We're in our Flat

Heya Guys

Okay so I know this is totally overdue, Sorry for that! So what is new since Matty’s last update…

As you know we stayed at Ray’s place for 5 days last week before we moved into our new place, well we moved in last Tuesday evening. For those who know London it is by Earls Court and Kensington (ie just in zone 1 for the tube and only 5 stops to Matt’s work). It’s been so good to actually be able to feel more settled, to be in a set place and be able to hang up clothes and not live out of a suitcase. A bit about our place…there are 4 flats within the one house – I say flats, but it is more like 4 separate wings to the house. We are in flat 3 and there are 5 rooms in our flat. Each flat has it’s own kitchen, bathroom and washing machine, and there are 3-5 rooms so there is about 16 rooms in total in the house. Ie if all the housemates came together there are apparently 25 or so, crazy man, it’s like big brother. Sounds like it would be constantly busy and crazy in the house, well it’s not really. If you want to go into the common lounge and socialise then you can, but if we just want to chill out in our room then it can feel like no one else is even there as we are on the upper floor at the end so that is very nice.

The Proposal…My turn to fill in the gossip from when Matty proposed to me :)
We were having a great Saturday, lovely weather for the second day running and we were meeting up with Dale and Sheryl, what more could you ask for! Matty and I had been trying to go on the London Eye all week but the weather had been poo, so on Sat morning Matty booked our tickets over the net for 7pm. I thought it was a bit weird that we were going on a day that Dale and Sheryl were in London but at the same time I really wanted to go and seeing as the weather was good we had to do it. When it was time to set off (I was already happy cos Chelsea has just won the FA Cup) Matty secretly texted Dale to fill him in on what he was planning on doing. So off to the London Eye – I still had no idea what he was planning! It was awesome we got on the Champagne flight and man the views were just amazing!! Then when it got to the top of the flight Matty told me to put down my camera and then asked the question while on one knee! I didn’t know what to do as I was so surprised having had no idea, that I just had such a huge smile and gave him a hug, he said “So?” and I said “Of Course!!” There were these 3 ladies on the flight with us and they were loving it just as much, giving us hugs and all! So it was very cool!!
We then went off for a lovely dinner and then met up with the others. It was so good to have them here to celebrate with us!!

What else have we done…Not too much, while im still looking for a job (my CV is with a few people) and we have just had to pay bond, rent, bedding and food shopping to fill our fridge (we have one in our room) we are trying to not spend too much. Also the weather has gone bad again… We have had some awesome sunny summer days mixed with raining cold ones, it just can’t make up it’s mind yet. On Wed last week Matty and I enjoyed the sun in the morning then when he went to work I went to see Ray and then met up with Rob and to watch the Liverpool game…no more needs to be said about that. Then on Thurs I went for a walk (and got lost) around our flat to get us a duvet and a couple of other things. The weather was lovely so I took in the most while I could! Fri and Sat Matty had off so we just chilled out by our flat as Matty wasn’t feeling the best (he is good now after a few days of codral). Then Sunday I had a Sunday roast at Ray’s pub and a few free drinks (thanks to Ray’s usuals at the pub that buy him drinks to put on his tab!).

Ok so another big post update! hehe You know me i like to talk, and I’m just making up for this being overdue! ;)

Hope you are all doing fantastically well!
Big hugs and Kimmy Kisses
x x x x x

Our Address:

1 Edith Villas

Flat 3

London

W14 8UP

England

Don't Try Phoning Us - We Are Engaged!

So the big commitment has been made. Matt and Kim are getting hitched. I'm not gonna make this a big posting,Kimmy will fill you all in with the girly details. Surely, it's not like she'll be busy working (bum) so plenty of juicy info to come. And just so you know, it won't be a short engagement as we will wait til we return to Aoteoroa.

We were blessed with two non-rainy days just gone. The first Kim has seen since her arrival. Needless to say we soaked it up by doing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and getting engaged. I had to work on Friday (first sunny day) at 2.30pm so we were caining it round the sights. Saturday was pretty cool, Dale and Sheryl came up from Bournemouth to stay with Sheryl's brother & his partner for the weekend and we caught up with them for most of Saturday. Mike Randall and his ladyfriend came along too, great fun. The FA cup final (yawn) was on so we had a few brews at Ray's pub of choice, his own. Kim and I then headed out to the London Eye for a 7pm 'flight', they actually call it a flight as it's run by British Airways. Woah crazy. The rest is history I suppose. Another good man lost. Italian for dinner, near Leicester square, top notch. Went out with the gang after the 30min flight, we were feeling a bit jet-lagged though but had to do it. Covent garden was on the list, what a great place there are some really nice pubs around there, this one was very packed

The next day we decided to go to the cricket at lords, England vs West Indies. Then we decided not to after seeing the 'cheapest' ticket was £40. My luck of sporting events is going through a rough patch after missing out on the football. Chilled out in a park for a while then had the biggest pub lunch ever. Sunday roast at Wetherspoons pub, man soooo good.

oxox
What's the time Ms Wolf?
Kia ora?
The cheap buggers who couldn't afford the cricket. We contemplated climbing this fence.
Danny
Kim about to be bitten by a horse
F***en Yeah!
The Queens pad,we were a bit busy to pop in for tea. I wore my best undies just in case though
"Oh I hope he asks me to marry me soon"
Benjo
The River Brown aka Thames below
Kim,Matt,Ray,Dale,Sheryl at Rays pub for the FA cup final
I still don't know how she took this photo from outside our viewing pod. Maybe she set self timer and threw the camera upwards
Boyfriend and girlfriend photo
Fiancee photo
Nice ladies who were buzzing getting a free proposal on the eye
Cheers!
Daz and Shaz
Myself and the Ray-pist. Nipple gripple,I'm going in for the kill
Smile!!!!!!
Potential hand model perhaps?

Quick note

Hi guys

Just a very quick note to let you know that we are going to be staying with Ray at his place for the next 5 nights until we can move into our new flat. This is such a good thing as it will be saving us £36 a night staying in the hostel!!
It will be interesting staying at Ray's seeing as it is right above the pub! ;) Matt thinks it's a great thing, funny that! We have met a few really nice people at Ray's pub though, so that is very cool. There will always be someone there to have a chat with!

Now i also need to ask one favour.... Please could you all face our directin and think positively that the rain will stop soon!! I am working on my positive thinking but i think i need more powers ;P I really want to do some more sight seeing but the rain keeps stopping me!

Clint i thought of you yesterday when we saw a guy on the road...he had been hit by a car while riding his bicycle. The stupid law here says that you don't have to wear helmets when riding bikes, so you can imagine how hurt he must be! I still keep thinking how lucky you were! Thank God!!

Anyway that's all for now
Till next time
Kimmy x x x

WE HAVE A FLAT

Hello All

Hope this finds you all well and good.... So just a quick up date cos their are people waiting to get onto the computer and they are giving me the evil eye.

Well i have great news...WE HAVE FOUND A FLAT!!! Matty and I have been looking for only 2 days, not bad we thought. After day one we decided that the best thing to do was to go through an agent, we did have to pay them a fee but it was worth it as they gave us a few addresses and appointments to see some places and this meant that we didn't need to continue looking for places on the net and we didn't need to ring around heaps of places and make our own appointments! Man oh man flats here are so different to home! If you have ever complained about how small your place is, you'll take it all back once you have been to London!! The first few places we saw were studio rooms, meaning they have a kitchen and sometimes a bathroom included. The one place we saw in the centre of London, just up from Oxford str was a nice sizes room with kitchen included, but it had no common sitting area so this meant that we would simply live in our room and that was it. We thought No to this as we are social people and need some other people around us. Also the flat was on the top level so all those flights of stairs would not have been after a big one out in town!! The next two places were shocking!! Im not even going to go there.... Then we had one last place to look at for the day.... and BINGO... We knew straight away that the fourth place was the one we were after.
It is a huge flat, 3 stories high with 7 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, 3 bathrooms, 3 toilets seperate, 4 or so washing machines and a lounge common area. At least i think thats right, we will let you know more once we have moved in. Also the other flat mates are mainly Kiwis and Aussies. So needless to say, we fit right in. :) And also if there are Kiwis there it means that the place must be good, especially if they have seen some of the places we did! We only move in on the 22nd but Ray is going to see if his boss will let us stay with him for a couple of nights so we don't have to keep paying the hostel. Keep those fingers crossed for us ;-)

The weather is on the up now, i don't think it is suppose to rain again for at least another couple of days, so I'm meeting Matty after work and we are going to go to Big Ben etc as i still have not been there. I will post some pics next time around.

Now my only mission is to find a job. Again i am going to go through an agency as this seems to be the best thing to do from what i have heard! So i will find one today and go from there. I have seen a few job vacancies around, but i do want to get the best i can and they know a lot more than me!
So hopefully next time we talk i will have a job!! Again keep those fingers crossed for me :)

Love you lots
Speak again soon
Kimmy x x x

PS Ben i hope your hangover from the other night has gone, hehe only getting home at 12 noon the next day!!
PPS Mum and Dad i hear you are pros at Buzz now, hehe :)

Kim in London

Hello from rainy London

You may need a cuppa as this is ganna be a long blog!

Sorry i have not up dated the blog yet, but this is the first time i have manged to get onto a computer. There is a computer at my hostel with free internet access but every time i have gone to go on it there is always someone who has beaten me to it!

Well i have been kinda busy ever since i got here, going somewhere or another for sight seeing or somewhere else to get out of the rain. The rain hasn't been too bad, it's not hard or anything, just annoying enough to stop me staying outside and seeing what i want to see. The days are really nice and long though. It gets light at about 5-5.30am and only gets dark close to 9pm, so that really does make up for the rain!

So what have i been up to...
My flights weren't too bad, had two empty seats next to me on way to Singapore, didn't sleep much but flight was good. Singapore airport was amazing! So much to do in my 3 hours of transit. The flight to London was packed but luckily i was seated next to two older ladies, so they didn't take up much room and we all slept for a while so that was also good. Food was really good on the plane! I then landed in London at about 6.15am on Thurs monning and it only took me about half hour to get out... thankgoodness for my British passport cos the other passpoorts queue was massive i can see how it took Matty an hour & half to get out!!
The boys and I then went to a cafe inside the airport to catchup and have breakfast, they really needed coffee as they had to get up at 5.30am to come get me ;-) hehe.

We then went onto the tube and headed to our hostel, hoping that they would let us leave our stuff there eventhough it was earlier than we where suppose to check in. Luckily they did let us leave our stuff eventhough the room had not been cleaned yet.
We then went off, back on the tube to go see Harrods shopping centre as Ray had not been there at all since he's been here. Man oh man it is HUGE and quite posh!! We didn't have the time, or the energy, to go through every level so we just did the toys and sporting levels. I couldn't believe my eyes, nothing compares at all!! You will see the photos... The merchandising and displays are wicked, and the staff are continuously demoing products and then there is the amount of products!! I will definately go back again just so that i can see more without being so mind boggled!! Matty then had to head to work so we dropped him off at the train station and Ray and I then headed to his pub as it was now rain again and we had no umbrella. We were quite wet by the time we got there but luckily i had my jacket on. We were only going to stay there for a quiet couple of drinks, but then Danny text us and he met us there for a few as well before he had to catch the tube to Kings Cross and then a bus back home. The other reason we stayed for longer was that a Kiwi Maori guy got talking to us and started buying us drinks, he would not take no as an answer!! He was from Whanganui and has been in London for 16 years. At about 11pm Ray took me back onto the tube and to my hostel which is in Earls Court, if you know where that is, and then he headed back to the pub to his bed.

Man oh man i did not feel too good the next day!! Jetlag, sinus and hangover mixed together was not good!! Luckily Matty and I were the only people in our room so i could just veg for a while. At about midday i finally left the hostel to catch the tube (im now becoming such a pro ;-) hehe) to go meet Matt after work. He finished at 3.30pm so i had a few hours to kill before i met up with him. I got off the Tube at Green Park and he told me to go to Berkley Square... only problem was that i didn't have a map of London yet, so i had no idea which way i had to go. After walking a little while down the road by Hyde Park i thought i had better ask someone....Only in London do i need to ask three sets of people before i can find an actual Londoner who knows where things are, everyone else was as lost as me :)
Needless to say i was heading in the wrong direction but luckily not be too far so i changed my barings and found Berkley square (with Matt's hotel up one of the roads off the square). I still had an hour to waste so i decided to go for a wonder around the shops. Man oh man that area is so posh!!! I was too scared to even go onto any of the shops as they all had smartly dressed doormen and i knew i just didn't quite fit in, but it was fun to watch the people who did go in.

Matty and i then went to go for a wonder to Hamleys Toy Shop...WOW!!! 6 stories high of toys!!! Again it was as amazing as Harrods, in fact even better as there was more demoing going on and it was a lot busier, so the vibe was awesome. I just wanted to take heaps of photos to send back to Ab Fab, but don't worry i refrained myself as i would have not known where to start! I had to take some of Matt - the Robosapien, the Hotwheels car and the spidermen hanging from the roof!

After that we walked down to Trafalghar Square. Very cool place!! So many people around, then again it was Friday night at about 6pm so there were tourists and all those people that had just finished work. After some touristy photos we then continued on our wonder to find a pub as matt felt like a beer (i really didn't, as my handover was still slightly there, so i settled for an orange juice!) and we did need dinner. We could not find a pub with a spare table for ages, but we weren't in too much of a rush so we just continued to wonder down the street until we did find one quite close to rays place. The food was good, but man i HATE the fact that smoking is still allowed in pubs...bring on 1st July when the law changes!!!! My clothes smell like smoke and tryng to eat with smoke around is not that pleasant either! We didn't really stay for too long for that exact reason and we headed off back to the hostel for an early night that we both needed.

Saturday i was up early as the sun was out and Matty had work at 7am, so i got myself all ready for the day. Ray then came past and we went off to Covent Gardens for a wonder around and then into the Walkabout pub, which is a Kiwi, Aussie and SA pub, to watch the rugby as it was showing at 2pm our time. As you can imagine the place was packed with South Africans and Kiwis as it was the only pub around showing the games live... Although i won't speak anymore about the games! We were not happy chappies!!
We stayed for a while longer, had dinner and then wondered back home. This was the first night that someone else was in the room with us. But they were two girls and they were nice and quite so that was cool.

Today i have woken up to, yes you guessed it...rain!!! Again it is only drizzling, but annoying as i wanted to do Big Ben etc but i can't really with weather like this, so i'm off to the museums instaed once im off the computer.

Wow that was a long Bloggl, sorry!! But so much to tell!!

Overall i am having a good time, i don't feel too put of place anymore, but im still very much a tourist! London is amazing, so full of history and charactor and i still have heaps more to see!!
Matty has the next two days off so we will be focusing on finding a place to live and then on me getting a job. There are apparently really good agencies here who can find you a job within a day if you need. so i'm still not too worried about that for now. Finding a house is more important to us. I have also got in contact with Rob Ward, my old mate from school, so we'll go see him tomorrow if possible for a catch up and he can fill us in on some stuff we may need to know.

Hope this finds you all well and good!!

My UK cellphone number is: +447892716641

Love ya Lots
Big Hugs and Kisses
Kimmy xoxoxox

PS Matty is feeling a lot better, His sore throat is better - -that'll teach him for having big nights out smoking with Ray ;-) hehe

And he has managed to have some good sleep now that i'm here and that we have been alone in our room!

Looking forward to having a couple of days with him off work Mon and Tues!

PPS Pic of church is from outside our hostel window

Annnd...Homesick

Yeah so this is the homesick post. I'm feeling it at the moment. Can't wait til Kim arrives, 2 more sleeps! But at the moment I'm feeling a bit crap, gotta chin up and keep on keeping on though. It's also the whole hostel thing. I'm now staying in a 12 bed dorm and as cool as it sounds,party! It ain't. Beds are surprisingly comfy, but I got hardly any sleep last night. Ah well it'll be all good soon. Just don't feel settled that's all, this place takes a bit of getting used to and I'm feeling really tired all the time.

Started work today, which was pretty sweet. Very different, half the size of the hotel I was working at back home and at times it's quiet. But it will have it's moments I'm sure. Same system and everything so I've found it ok. Very small team and they all seem ok.

What a shambles Sunday was. Ray and I rocked out to the football to see my team play (for the first time might I add) and the bloody match was sold out. Ah well, pretty gutted. Thing is it was last game of the season as well. Never mind, we grabbed a couple of beers and chilled out for the rest of the day.

Just wanting to let everyone know how much I miss the sexy shores and people of NZ, I'm not a big city boy and this is very different for me. I'll try post some pics up in the next day or two, with Kim in them.

xoxo

Photos As Promised

Today I am not well. Drinking with Ray last night, bad, really bad. I have moved out of the Generator hostel and now just checked into the International Students Hostel. Only £12 per night which is better than the £20 I was forking out at Generator. Forking cool bar there though. Means I have to stay in a 10 bed dorm, but it's all good. I'll try find a flat or whatever when Kim comes over so we can hit it big time. Ray's pub is pretty cool, small but cool. Met some of the regulars last night, a fair few characters let me tell you. One guy, Joe, was very funny...later found out that he's always on coke so that's probably why. Good on ya.

So yeah, just farting around today hoping I get a good sleep tonight. In the second photo down I got tooted by a big bus moments after this. Went to the National Portrait Gallery yesterday. That was awesome, didn't even see half of it so I'll go back for more another day. All portraits of significant people throughout time. Museum tomorrow I reckon. Gonna do a tour and the London Eye when Kim arrives, should be good. Anyways, back to my hangover then.

Peace and love.

Unleashed in London

I've made it! London, who would've thought. When I say I've made it, it may only be for a few more days...as all my NZ dollars will be goneski (so F'ing expensive here). This is an amazing place and I guess if culture can shock you, I then had a small bout of culture shock. I was just displaced and overawed on the first day. It may be due to waking at 8am Singapore time and then staying up drinking with the StingRay til 1am UK time. Which means, I was awake for 24 hours. And boy did I feel it the next day. A lethal cocktail of hangover, jet lag and Aussie room mates pissing around at 5 in the morning to go on their contiki tour.

So my hostel is pretty choice, good bar and that's what matters really. A beer as many know, costs around £3 here, the hostel has a happy hour between 6-9pm for £1 beers. Looks like I may just sleep all day, get up at 6pm and go to bed at 9pm to cut the spending down. My bed costs £20 per night! For crying outside. So my receipt read $170 NZ for 3 nights stay in a top bunk shoebox. I'm on the prowl for somewhere cheaper, but who knows. The bums and hobos here (plenty of them) seem quite happy, but that may be due to the amount of glue they've just inhaled. One bum came up to me and asked, 'What do you get hanging from an apple tree?' and before I could give him a smart arsed comment...bang! 'You get sore arms'. So I gave him some money for more glue and he left.

I haven't really seen all I can see yet, as it is a very big city. Seen the inside of a few pubs and bottoms of glasses though. Went to Trafalgar Square, West End, Big Ben, Thames River, London Eye all the big sights within walking distance. I love the architecture here, the buildings are absolutely amazing. So many things this North Shore born and raised kid has never once seen. Which is why I was so taken back with sights and sounds here I guess. Unbelievable what people try to hand out to you, every 20 metres on the footpath there's some cowboy handing out leaflets. Ray had a laugh as I was taking everything they were handing out and acting like a bona-fide tourist, 'thanks vury much, I appreciate it' I was saying to the robots handing out advertising. I took a few photos which I will post here when I remember to bring the leads for my camera, dork.

It's all go here, 100 mph, any there is no typical Londoner...so many different cultures in one place. I think now I am kind of on top of it and will get on the juice tonight as I'm ready to party. I am going to my first Queens Park Rangers match on Sunday at Loftus Rd, which I am really looking forward to. Ray-ray reckons he will come to, which is funny cuz he's not yet been to his club, Spurs. The big man has not changed a bit, still a pisshead with the same lame jokes. Gotta love him. Funniest thing is he's working in a pub, seriously people it's like putting Barney from the Simpson's behind the bar. I went there yesterday to check it out, perdy cool. Walked past there before and it was busy as, everyone spilling out onto the streets with a brew in their hand. There's a pub on every corner, my kinda place. We went to a few yesterday, can't remember the name, 'the something and something'.

I've got my simcard and everything. You can reach me here on +447892705728

Photos to follow. I threw in one or two self-photos to keep it consistent. Ha ha.

Lotsa Love