Trafalgar Square / Big Ben

On Friday, I went with Peter to a meeting about a project we’re working on. This meeting was in a building close to the St. Paul’s tube station. This didn’t really click in my mind until we strolled into the square while we were looking for the building the meeting was in – then the large dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral came around the corner and looked down on us. I’ve never had a job where I can work and sightsee in one of the largest cities in the world before, so I thought that was kinda neat. The building also had a really good view of the cathedral and the square below.

That night I had planned to get a beer with a few of the guys from the other company (Buro Happold), but by the time I’d caught the tube and finished up at work, I got there too late and didn’t find them. So I went to Oxford Street, but on my way, some creepy guy asked me to “come here a sec”. He looked really sketchy, so I said “no, sorry” and kept walking. I was only about 40 metres away from Oxford Street, so I knew if I could get there, I would be safe in case the creepo wanted to stab me or something. He said “HEY you, come here a sec” and I replied again “no, sorry” and sped up without looking back at him. I made it to Oxford Street, and went into the Curry’s (Futureshop sorta) and looked around in there to make sure he wasn’t following me or anything. He wasn’t, and that was the last I saw of him.

On Saturday, I went to the library and got a few e-mails and stole some more internet til mine gets set up at home. Then, I took the tube to Waterloo station, where Mr. John Sime will arrive on Friday. I wanted to make sure I knew where I was going before he arrives. Once I got there, I really needed to use the loo, but the only bathrooms there cost 20p to use, and I had only brought some bills and put them in my Oyster Card pouch thing (Oyster card is essentially a tube pass that you wave in front of sensors on the way in and out). So I went back to the tube. I had planned on going to Marble Arch and Hyde Park that day, so my next stop was going to be Marble Arch. However, when we got to the Charing Cross stop, it said “This is Charing Cross, alight for Trafalgar Square,” so I decided to go there instead. Upon exiting the station and getting my bearings, it turned out I was IN Trafalgar Square. And it was HUGE. Big fountains, hundreds of people, a huge spire, and the National Gallery. Everyone was taking pictures, so I followed suit (not like I wasn’t going to anyway though). After taking some pictures, I decided to go see the Gallery (which is free, like a lot of places in London). People seem to really like drawing Jesus – I probably saw 100 paintings with Jesus or Mary or someone holy in them. In addition, I saw some Van Gogh, Picasso, Degas, Monet, etc. It was pretty neat, but unfortunately I was not allowed to take pictures inside.

After that, I figured I’d go to Marble Arch, but then I saw something out of the corner of my eye on the way back to the station entrance – Big Ben was just down the street. So I figured I’d check that one off my list too, and ventured down the street. I took a bunch of pictures of the tower, and by that time I was getting very hungry, so I decided to stroll on back home. One tube ride, and I was home. That’s the best part of London – the tube makes it seem very small, and on top of that, every time I arrive at the station it seems the train is just getting there (thus far I’ve never had to wait more than 4 or 5 mins for a train). Actually, that’s a lie – the morning after the “HUGE” snowstorm (2 cm or so probably, the most snow London has received since 2003, which is ridiculous) I had to wait for the 3^rd train because I couldn’t jam into any of them before other people did.

So all in all, Friday and Saturday were quite eventful days as far as sightseeing goes! Oh and all the time in between has been filled with X-files watching, I’m on season 4 now.

Last but not least, I am still waiting for my internet to get “set-up” on the provider end. That will be a glorious day. Stan out.

ps. pictures to come, blogger is just being really annoying at the moment. see my facebook in the meantime, the pics are all there.

the Tate Modern

Today I went exploring. I planned my route out to get to the Tate Modern museum near London bridge, but when I got to my tube station (warwick avenue) it was closed due to train vandalism (which reminds me, on one of the signs in the station last week it said one of the lines was closed due to “person under train” or something like that). Anyhow, a bobby nearby told me to take a bus to Baker Street (of Sherlock holmes fame) and then catch the tube from there. So I did, and it went fine. Then I made my way to the River Thames, where I took lots of cool pictures. Shortly after, I found the Tate Modern, and went inside. The museum was free, which was great. I went inside, saw a few of the galleries, and took some decent pictures. Apparently, you’re not allowed to take pictures, according to a man there with a walkie-talkie. At least I got in some good ones before I was told this. I saw some real Picasso paintings – one was weird like you’d expect when you hear the name Picasso, but the other one was a portrait which looked pretty realistic. Also, I saw some work by Andy Warhol which was pretty neat too. Some of the pieces were ridiculous, and I could have done a similar work myself. One of them was called “Grey” and it was just that. A large canvas painted uniformly grey. The write-ups next to some of the paintings made me roll my eyes, as they were sort of interpretations of what the painting is supposed to mean, etc. They had written a fairly in-depth writeup for “grey” which was unnecessary in my eyes. Other paintings and sculptures there were along the same lines as that, and are heralded as “great art”, which makes me wonder how some people are thought of as prodigies, and others as hacks, when all the pieces are so entirely subjective. Anyway, it was worth going, and it was pretty neat to see how they’d transformed an old power station into a 7 storey art museum. Oh also, I think I need to buy a tripod, because night shots are impossible to take on my camera due to underexposure – I only got a few to come out properly, and that’s because I set the camera down on the ledge on the riverside. I’ll look into that someday.

Oh one other thing – I am watching the x-files and the guy who plays Locke on Lost is in this one episode. And the girl who plays Amanda in Saw was in the last one I watched. Anyways, I saw Lost action figures advertised in one of the tube hallways, and I saw the Lost board game in a book store. Just thought I’d mention that.

the first week

well, it's been a little over a week, and my first full week of work is over. work itself isn't too bad, it's getting a little better. it still involves a lot of phoning people to get information about their products, and searching the internet, and looking through "good practice guides" for figures and space requirements and stuff like that. I'm apparently in the "building service engineering" field right now - I don't think this is where i'll end up in the end. To the left is a picture of 30 St. Mary's Axe, it's pretty close to the office I'm sitting in right now. I haven't gone to see it any closer than this picture shows, but perhaps I will one of these days.

Last night I went to a lecture by a guy who became the world's first cyborg. He has had chips implanted into his body to run tests to see what was capable. When he entered his university hallway, the light would turn on for him automatically, the door to his lab would open when it sensed him approaching, and a voice would welcome him to the room. They've hooked up a machine to rats' brains and they can essentially control these rats through machines using a remote control, it's insane. Also, they've implanted chips into a man's brain to essentially cancel the effects of Parkinson's disease - they had a video which showed him in a very advanced stage in that he couldn't walk without help at all, he had bad tremors, etc. When the power packs were turned on, he got up out of his chair, and walked around like you or I, it was phenomenal. Anyway, you might be wondering about the picture up there on the right - one of the guys I went to the lecture with looks exactly like rick bruiser from Super Punch-Out, it's uncanny. One of the other guys looked just like John Frusciante with his new short hair. The guys I went with are all Irish, around 24-26 years old I think. Ken, Angus, Bryan, and Dermott were the fellas I hung out with after the lecture - we went for some Thai food (ginger beef was amazing, and I had a Tiger beer, like the Thai restaurant with Don Macdonald). After that, me and Ken and Angus went to a pub and had a few beers and crisps (chips for you canadians). I had a Fuller's Ale first, then a Hoegaarden, both of which were pretty good.

Also, despite the huge storm yesterday (which i didn't notice until I tried to make my way through the insanely packed Liverpool St. Station), we've had such warm weather, it's ridiculous, like 12-15 degrees above zero. Quite a difference compared to Halifax, which I hear had like -30 degree weather.

Oh, anyone who wants to look at an article about the lecture guy, follow this link:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/05/12/visionary.warwick/index.html

Anyway, that's about it from me for now.

first days of work

i've started my first days at work, which is basically in downtown london. the buildings around here are pretty cool, i will take some pictures tomorrow. work seems ok, but i will have to do a lot of phoning manufacturers and stuff like that, which i don't really like doing, so that's kinda too bad.

as for my house, my landlady is an older woman who, once she starts talking, doesn't stop. she rambled for upwards of 2 hours the other night, just after i gave her back her telephone. all i did was nod and smile and occasionally say "oh yeah, uh-huh" (thomas you know what i'm talking about).


i think I will get a mobile phone soon, and apparently I can call canada for 5p a minute, which is pretty decent. also that way, I don't have to ask my landlady for her telephone, and thus avoid her rambling.

I have only met a few people here so far - boss (seems like a good guy), boss's wife (from halifax, nice person), boss's wife's friend (also from canada, and she was cool), landlady (see above), and flatmate (from turkey, learning english at a college here). I pretty much just stay in my room at home, which sucks cause as most of you know, I don't have the internet.

Anyway, I am on lunch break at work, so I should probably eat my food and whatnot. I am eagerly awaiting visits from Lauren, John, Emma and Marie. They really can't come soon enough. Bye for now,

Stan

saying my goodbyes

during my last days in halifax, i've been saying my goodbyes to everyone i can.

after sime set up his blog for his travels in france
(http://johnsimeinfrance.blogspot.com),
i had to do the same. rob and thomas set one up too, for their "travels" around halifax.

anyhow, here are some pictures from my going away celebrations. for additional pictures, check out my facebook profile i guess, it's the easiest way to post pictures, I find.


ps. i'm new to this blogspot thing, and formatting is a big pain, so gimme a break haha