Birthday Celebrations!

In 2006 I was passing through Canada for my birthday, in 2007 I left NZ on my birthday so 2008 was the first time in 2 years I wasn't travelling on my birthday so I took full advantage of it by going out for drinks with friends in Central London!

Me & my girls - Aneela, Aunty Alpa, me

Me & Hamish! I used to work with Hamish at Vodafone NZ a few moons ago!

Me & my girls from St Christopher's - Hina, me & Navodi

Me and my kiwi boys ;) Dwayne, me & Dan

Friday Late 08 @ V&A

My friend Hina from Bahrain that I've recently rediscovered in London invited me along to a free music night at The Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington. Saint Etienne were playing which is the main reason I went along, but turned out to be heaps of fun, with some really amazing 'exhibits'. Anna, I hope you got a chance to check this out when you were here!

A sculpture in the foyer - each 'bead' hangs from the ceiling on an individual thread. Very delicate and pretty :)

There was an interactive thing where you could make your own 'sculpture' with the cardboard templates... Our attempt

Peek-a-boo!

I love when art meets functionality - this is a stunning yet functional fruit bowl.

Hina and the funky teapot :)

Museums and Birthday Brunch!

Vasi's Birthday was on Easter Monday so I caught up with her for brunch. (I've finally moved out of her place - well for a short time anyway - I'm currently house sitting with a friend in Bethnal Green.)

So being one to always seize the day, I decided Monday morning was the day to finally check out an exhibit at the beautiful British Museum that I'd been wanting to see for ages - The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army.

The advance tickets sold out months ago so the only way to see it was to queue for one of the 500 daily tickets released on a first come first served basis... I was on the bus at 6:30, and standing in the queue by 7:00am! I was standing in the cold (prob about 5 deg) for about 2 hours with joints starting to ache, when I should really have been asleep, but I managed to get a ticket so it was worth it in the end!

After the museum, I headed to Fulham for brunch with my big sis and a fun afternoon ensued :)

The queue at about 8:00, one hour before I got there and one hour before it opened. I was about 50 people from the front

The queue, stretching around the block! Heard a staff member saying there were probably about 700 people queued by the time the museum opened!






Not quite as good as the real thing but no photos allowed. The detail on the terracotta soldiers was phenomenal. They were life size, they all different facial features, hairstyles - amazing!


I walked part of the way to brunch - from Holborn to Victoria. Mainly because it was snowing and I've never been in a city during snow! It was cold, but fun :)


I'd been in the cold and not had breakfast- you can understand my joy at having cake!


Birthday cuddles :)

Getting Majuran to join in in the Birthday cuddles :)

The Ides of March

I for some strange reason seem to remember dates, so it didn't escape me that the 15th March 2008 was my 2 year anniversary of leaving NZ on my OE.

I guess when I left NZ I never had a timeframe for when I would return; I figured I would be away for at least 2 years, but as I hit that milestone I realise that although I miss my family and friends like crazy, I'm not quite ready to come home...

London has so many things to offer - within the last week I went to my first ever gig at the famous Roundhouse (DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist performing the Hard Sell), went to a brilliant hip hop dance adaptation of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' and even managed to get a spot of nature in - I ambled through Regents Park and walked up Primrose Hill admiring the daffodils sprouting in force!

Perhaps the culmination of the week however, was Sat night dinner at Navodi's place with Hina, another friend from the St Christopher's days. The food was v tasty (thanks Nav!), the wine was fine (not hard when it's Oyster Bay) but the company was simply sumptuous! We were friends back in primary school and hadn't been all together for about 15 years but the conversation & laughs flowed like we were the best of friends who'd never been apart :)

Spending the night with some of my oldest friends in the world - not a bad way to celebrate my little milestone :)