So anyway - what have I been up to of late?
Most recently (literally last weekend) I marked the anniversary of 27 years of disappointing my parents by having a costume party, the photos of which can be found on Facebook (and a selection below). I've been to a few concerts - Foo Fighters! (at Wembley Stadium no less - and Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin came out for the encore) - Hilltop Hoods - Jack Johnson with Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, G-Love & Special Sauce and the O2 Wireless Festival - GooGoo Dolls, Powderfinger, Lyrics Born, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals (twice in a week!) and Counting Crows and I'm off to the Big Chill Festival next weekend.
Also I went to Royal Ascot and hilariously won money by betting on a horse named "Beaver Patrol" (no, seriously, that was its name), I had my parents over for a few weeks and did some touristy stuff with them, went to Wimbledon for an evening and saw a "Legends" game 4 rows from the court on Centre Court.
No travel since my last ramblings but I'm off to Croatia for a week of sailing in mid August and hoping to get to Krakow in mid September. Most excitingly I'll be back in Adelaide from late September to mid October to help my mate Liam throw his life away.... oops, I mean - get married ;-)
In mid June this year I "celebrated" my 2 year anniversary in London and was prompted to write the following piece of self indulgence titled - "2 yrs on and what have I learnt", which you can have a gander at below:
Wow - so as of today I'll have been in London and away from good ol RADelaide for 2 years. 2 years sure goes by real quick! I guess it's true when "they" say time sure goes by fast when you're having fun. Is it just me or do "they" say a whole lot of things?
Anyways, it got me thinking - what exactly have I accomplished/learnt over the period?
Starting with what I've accomplished: probably not a whole lot really.
- I've managed to blag myself a fairly decent job with a big company
- I'm living in a great flatshare with awesome people (shout out to Marie J, Tom M & Kitzy K) that's a 15 minute walk to my work - fairly unheard of in London
- I've met some awesome people along the way that I'm proud to call friends
- I've kept playing basketball and am arguably a much more dangerous threat from 3-point range than when I left home
- I've reconnected with long lost old friends - thanks Facebook
- I've done a bit of traveling and seen a portion of what I want to whilst I'm on this side of the world- which kind of leads into...
Things I've learnt:
- I now know how to say hello, goodbye, thank you, pardon and beer/wine please in Italian, German, French and Spanish (really I should know all these things in Turkish, Dutch, Swiss, Norwegian and Danish as well but so much of the world understands English you kind of get lazy)
- I miss proper, competitive basketball with statistics - my Fosbury quotient would be through the roof (PAOCBC boys will know what I'm talking about)
- most modern music sucks balls - I've been looking to the past for new stuff to listen to. Jazz, funk and soul - the likes of James Brown, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone (thanks Kim), Dusty Sprinfield, Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee
- almost every Liverpool player has their own song "Steve Gerrard, Gerrard, he'll pass over 40 yards, he's big and he's fookin' hard, Steve Gerrard Gerrard"
- I shouldn't scull saucepans full of punch after a concert and not eating a whole lot during the day
- drinking games are fun but dangerous when G Waddell is around
- bathroom usage terms must be specified on the toilet door (thanks Waz)
- houseparty crashers that none of the housemates know should be kicked out before they've defiled (a) your bathroom floor (b) your comfy sofa
- my timing can, on occasion, be extremely poor
- I'm terrible with managing money
- however, I'm much more capable of being independent that I ever thought I'd be
- for those special friends who've got your back during the tough times, you'd do anything in return
- I've learnt to enjoy the simple pleasure of going for a run by myself (without needing to be chasing a basketball)
- I appreciate RADelaide all the more for what it is - it's just not where I need to be for now
- I can understand how people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder - you really start missing sunshine after a while
- meat is better if it's cooked over hot coals - especially if it's from Best Mangal in West Kensington
- Piano bars can be hilarious fun
- lawn bowls is not just for old people
- signing up to your favourite band's mailing list is a brilliant way of not having to get up at ridiculous hours and battling with thousands of people to get tickets to that gig you really wanna go see
- ticket scalpers are the scum of the earth but the have their place - much like cockroaches
- everything in London is negotiable at 11am in the morning when you've been watching the AFL Grand Final and drinking since 4am in the morning - especially donuts(thanks Danielle)
- watching friends go back to Oz after sharing the London experience really, really sucks (thanks for reminding me Kath!)
- new experiences are fantastic but are all the better if they're shared with friends
- the world is an awfully big place with a whole of things to see and do, but even so, it's important to take time out to simply do nothing even in a place you've never been to before and may never visit again
Things I miss:
- the food - Adelaide has some fantastic restaurants - Peking Duck from Ming's Palace, chicken rice from the Chinatown Cafe, any steak from Gaucho's, sugarcane prawns from Vietnam (the restaurant not the place), yum cha from Ding Hao, Farmers Union Ice Coffe just to name a few
- The Barossa Valley - Rockfords, Grant Burge, Turkey Flat, Henschke
- McLaren Vale - d'Arenburg, Fox Creek, Wirra Wirra, Coriole, Chapel Hill
- drinking great South Australian wines on a Tuesda night with my Maxims crew: Steve, Sully, Crofty, Tommy (when he shows) Ange (RIP brother), Katie, Sammy and the occasional drop-ins Gerbs, Huffy, Kaz and Schaps
- nerd sessions with Tim and Liam
- playing basketball for the Mighty Reds
- poker nights with the boys
- in fact - my whole RADelaide crew - you know who you are
Please hit me back with any thoughts or observations you may have had over the past couple of years and especially if you have any suggestions about things that MUST be done over this side of the pond.
Hope you're all well - even if you don't read this note :-)
my housemates
Amy Winehouse makes an appearance
Hugh Hefner style
just some of my harem... ;-)
