I can't wait!! My shipment arrives today! Or at least it's supposed to... one more hour.. counting down! Maybe by the time I finish this post, it'll be here!
After yesterday's fiasco with the Internet guys, my confidence is not very high in the systems here (what systems??). I took the day off, or rather it became more like working from home, to wait for the Virgin Media guys to come and install internet. There I was, all happy to finally get real broadband, instead of my 3G dongle thing. But as the time passed, and I waited and waited, I finally called up the hotline to find out when they were coming cos in this country, no one really gives you a specific time and you have to just WAIT. The lady on the phone told me they'll come before 1pm but specifics she won't give me i.e. just be PATIENT.
Finally they come and they start poking around the house looking for the correct socket. After climbing up and down my small balcony to examine the wires running outside and testing every single hole in the wall, the guy told me it seemed like I couldn't get Virgin Broadband in my house though from my postcode it seemed like I could. What?? After I had waited 3 whole weeks for this appointment you tell me I can't get Virgin broadband??? (background: they're the only ones that do fibre-optics cable, the rest of the providers give you ADSL through the telephone line, which means you need an active phone line first but more on that later) Anyway, they poke around outside some more and finally they call me over to the common corridor, and point to a bunch of wires hanging from the ceiling opening, looking pretty despondent, "Ma'am, these are our wires. Unfortunately, they don't go anywhere. You'd have to get permission from your landlord for us to drill some holes through the ceiling and door and run these wires in the common area to get it into your house. I doubt you'll be able to get that permission though." Geez, thanks guys! So what do I do now??
The background to it is that UK has like 3 major TV/Cable/Phone providers (like Starhub back home) - British Telecom, Sky and Virgin Media. The rest of the telcos like Vodafone, O2 etc do some mobile and internet but not that comprehensive. Since there are these major providers who do everything, you'd think that you can just call up one company and get it all done in one installation and one bill right? WRONG. Apparently, whilst everyone has 3-in-1 packages, for most of the internet here, it's all through ADSL. And what does ADSL need? An active phone line. And here's the punchline - only BT provides the phone line. So that means that before you can do anything at all with anyone, you have to get BT to activate your phone line (and pay them while at it, this is the hidden cost that NO ONE tells you when you see all those cheap packages - £11/mth!!), which is why everyone ends up getting BT internet and phone. I was totally resisting this monopoly cos I really don't think I need a home phone line, since I had my mobile. After a lot of research, I thought I could bypass this by getting cable internet through Virgin (I wanted TV too but apparently I can't get their TV from where I am) and TV through Sky. Which brings us to yesterday's fiasco. And now I'm back to what I was trying to avoid i.e. getting a phone line. I don't even want to think about how long more I have to wait for the phone line and THEN the internet.
I proceed to call up Sky (my provider for Cable TV who's coming to install TV on Sat) to see if they can do an all-in-one installation for me when they come around. I get passed from one person to another and everyone I speak to has thick Scottish accents, which for the life of me, I cannot decipher over the phone. I kept going "Sorry? Say that again? I don't understand," to them and they must have thought I was a nincompoop. Finally after a long time, this is what I understood - I'd have to get my Sky TV and become a customer first, before he could send an order to BT to activate my phoneline (through Sky) and this will take 10-15 days. After my phoneline is active, then he will set up my broadband order and send me a self-installation package through the mail (another 3-7 days) and I will be all set! Errr, that's another 2-3 weeks if my maths doesn't fail me. By this time, I was totally exhausted and told him yah, whatever you need to do, go ahead. I just want my broadband, with or without a stupid phone line. The system just tries to wear you down with all its silly rules and regulations and waits to the point where you just surrender and let them do whatever. And this is supposed to be a first-world developed country??
That's the story of my Internet/TV/Phone fiasco, which I hope will not be repeated today with the movers. I had similar problems with them, having to call them up once every few days to check where my shipment was and everytime they told me they'd call me back with the information and not once did they call. I always had to call back to chase. So I'm really praying very hard that it comes today, and I'll be having TV from this weekend onwards! Plus my Kitchenaid, containers, vases, books, coats and toiletries!!! Oh and I watched Julie & Julia last night, so I'm quite inspired to cook, which means I want my things!! Please please please let it be here today!
September 17, 2009
September 14, 2009
Monday Blues
Just a quick post to let people know I'm alive. Work's beginning to build up and honestly, I feel kinda swamped at the moment. A lot of the time I feel inadequate to make decisions, not having the background knowledge or relevant info but I suppose I need to bite the bullet and survive this baptism of fire (I hope!).
Despite endeavouring to spend more time at home, relaxing and just doing nothing, I've not been able to do that. The days just fill up (which is good in a way) and even during weekends, I find myself out more than in. This past weekend, we went to Bicester Village, which is the factory outlet near Oxford and boy did we shop. On Sunday, we went to Greenwich and though it was grey and cold, which meant we couldn't sit around the park, we spent a nice couple of hours walking the market and town.
This was followed by a meal at The Gun, a gastropub at Canary Wharf. The Gun came highly recommended and it was all in all pretty good. Good flavours hearty food. I had the Pork Belly which was this really well cooked errr seo bah for lack of a better term. The meat was soft and came apart quite easily and the skin was very crispy. The fat was also melt-in-your-mouth though I cut away most of it since I really shouldn't be eating so much fat. My companions had a ribeye steak and veal rump. The accompaniments for each dish was very good - shoe string potatoes and onion rings and hand cut fries. For dessert we shared a chocolate pistachio tart with honeycomb ice-cream. It was as good as it sounds, not overly sweet and the ice cream was great! Overall, a nice dinner and pretty reasonably priced (we spent about £25 per person).
The Gun
27 Coldharbour Docklands London E14 9NS
T: 020 7515 5222
Despite endeavouring to spend more time at home, relaxing and just doing nothing, I've not been able to do that. The days just fill up (which is good in a way) and even during weekends, I find myself out more than in. This past weekend, we went to Bicester Village, which is the factory outlet near Oxford and boy did we shop. On Sunday, we went to Greenwich and though it was grey and cold, which meant we couldn't sit around the park, we spent a nice couple of hours walking the market and town.
This was followed by a meal at The Gun, a gastropub at Canary Wharf. The Gun came highly recommended and it was all in all pretty good. Good flavours hearty food. I had the Pork Belly which was this really well cooked errr seo bah for lack of a better term. The meat was soft and came apart quite easily and the skin was very crispy. The fat was also melt-in-your-mouth though I cut away most of it since I really shouldn't be eating so much fat. My companions had a ribeye steak and veal rump. The accompaniments for each dish was very good - shoe string potatoes and onion rings and hand cut fries. For dessert we shared a chocolate pistachio tart with honeycomb ice-cream. It was as good as it sounds, not overly sweet and the ice cream was great! Overall, a nice dinner and pretty reasonably priced (we spent about £25 per person).
The Gun
27 Coldharbour Docklands London E14 9NS
T: 020 7515 5222
September 10, 2009
Midweek
I've finally kinda caught up on the housework, put away the leftover laundry, cleared the table somewhat and *almost* cleared the boxes. My new white table and fuschia pink chair from Maison Du Monde came yesterday, which was a nice surprise when I returned home and saw two big ass packages awaiting me. Amazing that I got my furniture from France before stupid UK Ikea (still another 2 weeks!). Go figure.
The chair is even brighter than in the picture. I contemplated for a long time if I should get the grey (other than black above they also have this dark grey) instead of the pink. I wanted a pop of colour in otherwise pastel/white room. Well, it really erm pops. the colour in the above looks more like a very strong pink, and well mine is BRIGHT almost flourescent pink. Guess it's also cos of the light shining on it. Regret it a little :(
I've had quite a few busy days at work, lots of networking which tires me out cos I'm not so good at it. Didn't manage to catch the window to watch 2-for-1 movies today, really can't bear to watch on any other day and spend £13 on a movie. Came back home after my event and actually cooked beehoon. I had opened up my fridge and the vegs (which have been sitting there for quite a while) were calling out to me. So I finally made the beehoon I had been planning to make since Sunday. As usual I made way too much, will bring the rest of it to work for some friends tm. Can't wait for the weekend, plans to go to Bicester, which is the factory outlets though the sunny weather is gone. Has the sizzle really fizzled?
This blog is kinda turning into I did this, I did that blah blah chronicle huh. Not very interesting I must say. Oh well. Boring life, what to do.
The chair is even brighter than in the picture. I contemplated for a long time if I should get the grey (other than black above they also have this dark grey) instead of the pink. I wanted a pop of colour in otherwise pastel/white room. Well, it really erm pops. the colour in the above looks more like a very strong pink, and well mine is BRIGHT almost flourescent pink. Guess it's also cos of the light shining on it. Regret it a little :(I've had quite a few busy days at work, lots of networking which tires me out cos I'm not so good at it. Didn't manage to catch the window to watch 2-for-1 movies today, really can't bear to watch on any other day and spend £13 on a movie. Came back home after my event and actually cooked beehoon. I had opened up my fridge and the vegs (which have been sitting there for quite a while) were calling out to me. So I finally made the beehoon I had been planning to make since Sunday. As usual I made way too much, will bring the rest of it to work for some friends tm. Can't wait for the weekend, plans to go to Bicester, which is the factory outlets though the sunny weather is gone. Has the sizzle really fizzled?
This blog is kinda turning into I did this, I did that blah blah chronicle huh. Not very interesting I must say. Oh well. Boring life, what to do.
September 7, 2009
My Weekend
It was quite a packed weekend, starting once again with an outing to Ikea on Friday night. Background - I had gone there just on Monday since it was Bank Holiday and we rented a trusty Zipcar to carry back all the stuff. Somehow we managed to spend the ENTIRE day in Ikea, like from 10am - 7.30pm, and we still didn't manage to get everything cos errr I was quite indecisive plus several pieces of the furniture were going to be too heavy and big to lug back by car. The VW Golf, however, did manage to fit in all the small barang barang which somehow added up to a mountain of stuff. And since I didn't have access to my house carpark with my key yet, we had to unload by the street and wheel 3 trolley loads across the street and parking lot.
And yes, we went there again on Friday as I couldn't get all the stuff online (what's the point of online shopping if you can't get stuff online??). Got my boss's car for the weekend so off we went. Once again, we came back with a whole load of stuff. This time, at least we got into the carpark and there was only one load. I spent a good part of Saturday evening building the furniture until my hands hurt. I had never wanted a power drill more. Then more hand torturing on Sunday evening as I set out to do laundry. I never liked doing laundry since college days, and my old fears came flooding back when I had to wring dry my handwashing. My hands were still smarting from the previous day's furniture building and it was not fun at all. I think I put too many things into the washer-dryer as well cos my things didn't really dry and I had to hang dry most of it still. While the laundry was drying, I proceeded to scrub the limescale and water marks off my bathroom glass divider and the bathtub. Again, not fun. I can't imagine having to do this on a regular basis - it'll eat up all my weekends! I haven't even stayed there for 2 weeks! The kitchen probably needs some wiping down as well, and I'm sure it'll get worse the more I cook. Gah.
Yeah, so lest people think I lead a glam glam life, I don't! It only seems that way cos I blog about the highlights. On regular days, I wake up, take the tube to work, spend the day at work in meetings or in front of computer, go home, unpack/clean/run errands/cook, sleep and then it starts again the next morning. Occasionally here and there I do go out for nice dinners and try to do some shopping (I think Saturday will be marketing/shopping day). I will also try to cook more. Can't wait for shipment and all my cooking equipment to come!
Oh, and we went to Datchett and Windsor on Sunday, the former for a work-related social event in this huge huge house with big grounds, where there was free flow drinks, food, ice-cream, entertainment, bbq, the full works for about 150-200 pple. We even took a steamboat up the Thames (yes the house is right on the Thames further out where Thames is a narrow river) to Windsor. Neighbours with the queen, now that's a prestigious postcode. The place was just amazing, and we even got to take back vegetables from the hostess's garden!
We left early cos we wanted to take a look at Windsor Castle, but unfortunately it was already closed :( We walked around and had tea (or rather I had coffee, yes travesty I know) & scones at this really cute place called The Crooked House of Windsor. It really is quite slanted and crooked. According to its history blurb it was built in 1592! Apparently it's the place to have tea in Windsor and is featured as one of Britain's must-go tearooms. Well the ambience was great, the scones were not too bad though we thought it would have been better warmed. The Americans at the next table had the full-fledged tea set, sandwiches, cakes, pastries the whole works. I do need to do tea at one of the institutions here in London one day.
After tea, we walked around and unexpected came across some cheap wall art that we bought. It was a nice way to spend the Sunday afternoon. I will be back to actually go to Windsor Castle next time.
And yes, we went there again on Friday as I couldn't get all the stuff online (what's the point of online shopping if you can't get stuff online??). Got my boss's car for the weekend so off we went. Once again, we came back with a whole load of stuff. This time, at least we got into the carpark and there was only one load. I spent a good part of Saturday evening building the furniture until my hands hurt. I had never wanted a power drill more. Then more hand torturing on Sunday evening as I set out to do laundry. I never liked doing laundry since college days, and my old fears came flooding back when I had to wring dry my handwashing. My hands were still smarting from the previous day's furniture building and it was not fun at all. I think I put too many things into the washer-dryer as well cos my things didn't really dry and I had to hang dry most of it still. While the laundry was drying, I proceeded to scrub the limescale and water marks off my bathroom glass divider and the bathtub. Again, not fun. I can't imagine having to do this on a regular basis - it'll eat up all my weekends! I haven't even stayed there for 2 weeks! The kitchen probably needs some wiping down as well, and I'm sure it'll get worse the more I cook. Gah.
Yeah, so lest people think I lead a glam glam life, I don't! It only seems that way cos I blog about the highlights. On regular days, I wake up, take the tube to work, spend the day at work in meetings or in front of computer, go home, unpack/clean/run errands/cook, sleep and then it starts again the next morning. Occasionally here and there I do go out for nice dinners and try to do some shopping (I think Saturday will be marketing/shopping day). I will also try to cook more. Can't wait for shipment and all my cooking equipment to come!
Oh, and we went to Datchett and Windsor on Sunday, the former for a work-related social event in this huge huge house with big grounds, where there was free flow drinks, food, ice-cream, entertainment, bbq, the full works for about 150-200 pple. We even took a steamboat up the Thames (yes the house is right on the Thames further out where Thames is a narrow river) to Windsor. Neighbours with the queen, now that's a prestigious postcode. The place was just amazing, and we even got to take back vegetables from the hostess's garden!
We left early cos we wanted to take a look at Windsor Castle, but unfortunately it was already closed :( We walked around and had tea (or rather I had coffee, yes travesty I know) & scones at this really cute place called The Crooked House of Windsor. It really is quite slanted and crooked. According to its history blurb it was built in 1592! Apparently it's the place to have tea in Windsor and is featured as one of Britain's must-go tearooms. Well the ambience was great, the scones were not too bad though we thought it would have been better warmed. The Americans at the next table had the full-fledged tea set, sandwiches, cakes, pastries the whole works. I do need to do tea at one of the institutions here in London one day.
After tea, we walked around and unexpected came across some cheap wall art that we bought. It was a nice way to spend the Sunday afternoon. I will be back to actually go to Windsor Castle next time.
August 30, 2009
August 29, 2009
End of Week 3
Time flies. It's been 3 weeks since I got here. The past 3 days I've been busy trying to move into my new place. What that means is lugging lots of luggage and things back and forth. I'm thankful that my friend helped me with quite a fair bit of the heavy carrying when he can. One can't imagine the number of things that you would need to make a house a home. Ok maybe it's just me since I seem to need more things than normal people.
Over the past few days, I've had to go to the department stores and supermarkets and lug back duvets, sheets, pillows, broom & pan, frying pan, kettle etc. Some of these things are pretty bulky and it's been quite a feat trying to bring it home, usually I bring my expandable sports bag and stuff the things in. I haven't even gotten my crockery and cutlery yet cos I'm going to Ikea only on Monday so I'm living off my tupperware and plastic cutlery I got from the supermarket.
Yesterday I went to a big Sainsbury to try to get some basic groceries like tea, coffee, sugar, cereal and cleaning stuff like detergent and cleaning liquids. I was a tad ambitious in the amount that I thought I could carry. After I paid and put everything into bags I knew I was in trouble. Nevertheless I carried what seemed like 20 kg (no I'm not kidding) and attempted to make my 15 min journey home. Mind you, I was in heels (after work) and the plastic bags were cutting into my fingers. After about 10 minutes, my fingers were numb and I looked around and it seemed as if I had gone the wrong way! By this time, my arms were about to give way and I thought there's no way I'm going to backtrack and potentially face an even longer journey. So I stopped and tried to flag a cab. Luckily one came by and I quickly got into it, relieved. It turns out that I was walking the correct way (luckily I didn't try to 'backtrack'!) just that I wasn't familiar with how the road turns. Finally I was home. I'm seriously contemplating buying one of those trolley things to carry my marketing. Very auntie I know.
Enough of the unglam stuff and onto more glam things. I was in Paris for a day trip for work yesterday (before the supermarket saga). It is amazing how one see Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees in the afternoon and then Westminster, Big Ben at night. It was really quite rushed, with 4 meetings back to back but I enjoyed the sunny Parisian weather (London was grey and rainy) and just soaking the French air. I do miss Paris and come to think of it, it's been exactly one year since I went last year. The trip where I learnt how to make macarons :) Hopefully I'll be able to take more leisure trips to Paris soon.
I'm hoping to get the kitchen and house stocked up asap cos I can't seem to concentrate on anything else. Though I know it's quite silly and I should be able to just do other things but somehow it's become an obsession. I need to tell myself I can slowly do it, and just need to get the essentials. There's this cabinet from Laura Ashley that I would really like to get, it's light aqua blue and it's really pretty. Except it's going to take 9 weeks for delivery. I shall go and contemplate tonight. I need instant gratification.
Over the past few days, I've had to go to the department stores and supermarkets and lug back duvets, sheets, pillows, broom & pan, frying pan, kettle etc. Some of these things are pretty bulky and it's been quite a feat trying to bring it home, usually I bring my expandable sports bag and stuff the things in. I haven't even gotten my crockery and cutlery yet cos I'm going to Ikea only on Monday so I'm living off my tupperware and plastic cutlery I got from the supermarket.
Yesterday I went to a big Sainsbury to try to get some basic groceries like tea, coffee, sugar, cereal and cleaning stuff like detergent and cleaning liquids. I was a tad ambitious in the amount that I thought I could carry. After I paid and put everything into bags I knew I was in trouble. Nevertheless I carried what seemed like 20 kg (no I'm not kidding) and attempted to make my 15 min journey home. Mind you, I was in heels (after work) and the plastic bags were cutting into my fingers. After about 10 minutes, my fingers were numb and I looked around and it seemed as if I had gone the wrong way! By this time, my arms were about to give way and I thought there's no way I'm going to backtrack and potentially face an even longer journey. So I stopped and tried to flag a cab. Luckily one came by and I quickly got into it, relieved. It turns out that I was walking the correct way (luckily I didn't try to 'backtrack'!) just that I wasn't familiar with how the road turns. Finally I was home. I'm seriously contemplating buying one of those trolley things to carry my marketing. Very auntie I know.
Enough of the unglam stuff and onto more glam things. I was in Paris for a day trip for work yesterday (before the supermarket saga). It is amazing how one see Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees in the afternoon and then Westminster, Big Ben at night. It was really quite rushed, with 4 meetings back to back but I enjoyed the sunny Parisian weather (London was grey and rainy) and just soaking the French air. I do miss Paris and come to think of it, it's been exactly one year since I went last year. The trip where I learnt how to make macarons :) Hopefully I'll be able to take more leisure trips to Paris soon.
I'm hoping to get the kitchen and house stocked up asap cos I can't seem to concentrate on anything else. Though I know it's quite silly and I should be able to just do other things but somehow it's become an obsession. I need to tell myself I can slowly do it, and just need to get the essentials. There's this cabinet from Laura Ashley that I would really like to get, it's light aqua blue and it's really pretty. Except it's going to take 9 weeks for delivery. I shall go and contemplate tonight. I need instant gratification.
August 24, 2009
Char Kuay Teow from Kiasu
A little burnt, too salty and not sweet enough. Prawns were fresh and big. Probably not fried with lard. Probably a 3 out of 5.
The curry puff I ordered was the flaky pastry sort, the curry wasn't terribly tasty, again more salty than fragrant. Not enough chicken or potatoes, no egg.
Ice kopi was passable, made from coffee bag and using condensed milk at least. A little diluted since I asked for it iced.
Jom Makan
Nasi Lemak came with Rendang, the requisite ikan bilis + peanut but not fried with chilli, sambal with squid and half a hardboiled egg. The rice tasted more like chicken rice than coconut rice, it had a lot more galangal, ginger and spices than coconut. The sambal was quite good, sweetish just like how I like my chilli but the squid was squishy. The rendang was a little dry.
We also ordered chicken satay whic was better than the nasi lemak. The meat was well marinated and tender. The peanut sauce wasn't that spicy. The curry mee was a tad oily.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
