Oink!

It is unofficial. I have swine flu. Oink. The English have gone a bit batty and so everyone currently displaying flu symptoms - fever, cold, cough - gets quarantined (God forbid you get something caught in your throat!). In all seriousness, the message from the NHS is DON'T go to your doctor - instead, we have to call the doctor and get a diagnosis over the phone - which is no diagnosis at all - rather, a preventative measure to prescribe anti-virals to everyone which you get your 'flu friend' to collect. Mel is my lucky flu friend.

So, the last couple of days I have been busy rolling around in the mud (quarantined from work) and giving myself a hard time for not blogging. Since my last entry (which was about the same time Jesus walked on water) Mel has arrived in London, landed herself a kick-arse job, we managed on the second occasion to get ourselves a place to live (thus the Hammock which this little piggy has enjoyed over the period of quarantine) and have finally managed to feel a little settled for the first time in about 18 months.

Highlights from the last few months: we attended Andrea and Sun's awesome wedding where we danced to perhaps the best ever wedding soundtrack ever put together by Andrea and Sun themselves. This is the smiliest ever drummer and the coolest ever couple who proceeded to end their ceremony with an acrobatic feat to rival those of Evil Knieval. There were legs and shoulders and arms and thighs and height. I can't believe I didn't get a photo!

For those of you who have, forgivably, given up on this blog - the short update is that I'm working at GlaxoSmithKline since January - they make panadol and a few other things like Macleans toothpaste - OK, I'm lying, they are a relatively huge pharmaceutical company with a very inspirational CEO. Read here. My 'flu friend' is of course kicking-arse at Apple (no introduction needed) with a somewhat equally inspirational CEO. My perks are not as good as Mel's - while she gets music tickets and discounts on desirable products, I can buy discounted toothbrushes, toothpaste and panadol. Oh, and Ribena. I know what you're thinking - how do I live with such privilege? But to reassure everyone, no need to start emailing straight away about your share in my treasure chest of dental hygiene - there's plenty to go around. The irony is of course that I do in fact take advantage of my discounts. A few of you can already vouch for the bounty that I have bestowed. I feel like the arch-nemesis of the tooth fairy - she takes teeth away and I, the superhero of dental care, help you keep your teeth.

We have also started Salsa classes although after the first two, we have managed to miss every other class. One for the reason of the heat. Yes, you might mock me at the thought that London can be 'too' hot but I can confirm that once a year, it does shine.

Finally, has anyone noticed how job titles these days are just getting more and more ridiculous? Revenue Protection Assistant. In other words a ticket inspector on public transport.

iTunes festival

The iTunes festival is on for every day of the month of July. 31 days, 62 bands. At the Camden Roundhouse where Pink Floyd played their first gig and Jimi Hendrix and the Doors played.

Last Sunday, Snow Patrol played a mammoth 2 hour set and warned us that we might see "live deaths" on stage because they generally play 45 min sets.

On Monday night, this is us on a Franz Ferdinand high.

Here is Franz Ferninand - perhaps on a Prashandmel high.

On Saturday, we saw La Roux - for a bizarrely short show - she abruptly left at 10pm. Stu suggested that maybe she doesn't actually have many songs. Everyone went nuts when she sang In for the Kill. We'd been to the Brixton market that day for the first time and she's from Brixton. I love her bling eye make up.

And, just found out we have tickets to Placebo on Tuesday. That'll be 4 concerts in 2 weeks. Blissssss.

Ally

Ally and Shelly are staying with us.



Ally loved the British museum. She practised walking around the Greek marbles and whinnied like a horse at all the centaurs.

Taking photos of Ally is a contact sport because she likes to grab the camera.

Home!

The apartment didn't fall through at the last moment like the last one - we actually signed the lease and moved in! I didn't actually see the apartment that fell through, but Prash assures me that it isn't a patch on the one we've got now.
Here's Prash lazing in a hammock in our back yard.With Gen and Richard - our new Clapham Junction neighbours - thanks to Mike and Sarah for contributing to the "donate London friends to Mel and Prash" campaign! Richard is a great salsa dancer and has convinced us to come along with him on Thursday nights to salsa classes.

On Monday - guess who is coming to visit? The smily-est one year old on the planet - ALLY!

And her wonderful parents - Rob and Michelle (pictured here rugged up when they visited us in Paris).

Goodbye Paris, hello London!

I left Paris earlier than expected to go to London. I went from a "only on weekends when we have guests pain au chocolat eater" to a "it's my last few weeks in Paris, anytime of the day pain au chocolat eater" very quickly and got misty eyed at random things (even feeling nostaglic on the metro) as I counted down the days.

Mike and Sarah came over for the best weekend ever - we velibed all over Paris and compensated by eating our body weight in crepes and cheese. Our policy with visitors was to do at least one thing that we'd never done before, otherwise we'd just see the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur 50 times and nothing else. I was nervous about suggesting what I really wanted to see - but Mike and Sarah were totally up for it - so we visited the sewers of Paris. Very humid, underground (obviously), and a little stinky.

And hello London! I arrived on the 8:28am Eurostar from Paris and started work that morning. A bit intense in hindsight but I wanted to squeeze the last drop out of France. I got a job as a maternity cover at Apple as the legal counsel for the Benelux countries - BElgium, the NEtherlands and LUXembourg -hence "Benelux". I have to admit, I'd never thought about that before and had a vague idea that Belgium and Luxembourg were part of Benelux. When I heard that person I was replacing was based in Holland (apparently part of Benelux who knew?), I thought, hmmm should be BEHOLUX - no? But the NE is the Netherlands, lucky I sorted that out before my first day otherwise may have been fired early on.

Highlights so far - performers featured on iTunes just popping in to play a few songs in our cafe, getting an iPhone and a MacBook, and everyone wearing jeans and iPods to work.

We found an apartment, and then lost it (landlord changed her mind at the last minute) and now we have found another one. We're moving in tomorrow. I sent photos to my fam and my sister said it looked "very domestic". I pointed out that it backs onto a train line in the busiest station in London so that makes it gritty and edgy (and probably quite noisy). We still haven't signed the lease but if this falls through too, I won't be held responsible for what I do to the real estate agent.

What do you think - domestic? Or damned cool?

KatieM - do you like the kitchen? Tempted to come and cook something amazing for us?

1h55m10s

When I first met Mel, she was training for the Canberra marathon. Given that I knew a couple of other Mels, it was decided that this Mel would be known as 'Running Mel' to distinguish herself from the others who were not so into endurance sport.

Last weekend, Running Mel made a come back at the Paris Half Marathon. The weather was most uninspiring but despite the rain, Mel and 24,999 other Parisiens set out on a 21 km course around the city. The run commenced at Chateau Vincennes, a castle located practically in a forest on the Eastern outskirts of Paris. The course went into the centre of Paris and then back where it started.


The race started at a very reasonable 10am and after dropping Mel off at the starting line, I head off to Bastille where Mel would come around at both the 5km and 10 km marks. The vibe at the start was great - here's some aerobic instructors warming up the crowd with a high intensity routine.
Here's Mel double checking the laces and getting ready to go to the start line. And of course, some runners don't quite like looking like the others.


Clem and Chris, our Aussie cheer squad!


This is the first of the crowd coming through at a cracking pace.

But here's our favourite athlete. Aussie Aussie Aussie. Oy Oy Oy.


Mel finished the race in the amazing time of 1h55m10s. Notably within the first 500 female finishers! We don't have a photo of Mel crossing the finishing line because she was just too fast. Running Mel strikes again!

In the meantime, I am sorry to say that Mel has finally tracked down what I was doing for all those months when unemployed in Paris. Busted

Amsterdam: 3x3

So maybe this isn't exactly a description of a city visit.

1x3: Moods by two

2x3: Liquid orange


3x3: Frozen blue