Tuesday, November 08, 2005

ALL BLACKS 41 – WALES 3

Saturday 5 November 2005

Another dream came true for me today – Watching the All Blacks play Wales at Millenium Stadium - and it did not disappoint (as the heading would suggest!)

As a rugby fan, the various stadiums in the world are a big part of the appeal and I had heard so much about the Millennium Stadium. It really was worth the talk and really did generate an amazing atmosphere when inside – also right in the centre of town (which means good news for the after parties!)

Left London at 10.45am on a train overflowing with people in black jerseys, with Steve, Nick and Lucy. Arrived at 12.45pm and snuck in a very civilised lunch with Nicks sister and whanau at a local French restaurant down the road from where they lived. Then it was off to the stadium, a few beers and some good craic!

Opening moments before the game sent shivers down my spine with Hayley Westenra singing the national anthem, my brother standing alongside singing it with me, marvelling at the brilliance of the stadium and of course the Haka. The game itself was only average (even though the scoreline was quite tremendous). I had expected a bit more passion and a tougher game. However with 1 down and 3 to go in taking the Grand Slam, I am not going to complain!

My man of the match scoring 26 points inclusive of two tries – Mr Dan Carter! First of his two tries pictured below...

After the match, celebrations were in order, so we went on a mission to find the best local craic and hospitality, flaming zambuccas, a dancefloor – and warm beer and chips for Nick! After we failed to find warm beer and chips for Nick (although we did find Burger King) it was back to his sisters place for her hubbys 40th birthday bash for the remaining time before our cab picked us up at 1am. Finally arrived back in London for some well earned kip at 4am!

I had a really special day – highlights had to have been the fabulous warmth and hospitality of the Welsh (truly fabulous people!), the stadium (and of course a very fine win), and spending some top quality time with my bro!

Big thanks to Nick for the match tickets, Steve for the train tickets and the whole crew for the great company – without em it wouldn’t have been possible!




Thursday, October 27, 2005

London Film Festival

Monday 24 October

The London Film Festival is currently being held at various cinemas in London and at the suggestion of Viktoriya, we decided to go and see a movie called “Matador” featuring Pierce Brosnan (as you have never seen Pierce Brosnan before). It was in Leicester Square, just near where I work. The movie itself was a very pleasant surprise. I knew nothing of it and probably would not of thought to go on my own accord. At the end of the movie, the director came out to meet people and answer questions from the audience. He was quite an entertaining guy and it was great to meet this person whose blood sweat, tears and dreams we had just been watching.

Going to the film festival that night was, again, one of those really fabulous spur of the moment things that one can do in London that makes life over here really special. The movie is going to be released in early 2006 and I would definitely recommend it!

Phantom of the Opera

Friday 21 October

I am very fortunate to be able to say that I have been to many shows in my 18 months in London - plays and musicals - some featuring some great talents such as Kevin Spacey, Val Kilmer, Rob Lowe, Marti Pellow and so on. It really has been one of the great highlights for me of living in London, to be able to just go to one of the numerous shows and be entertained by such wonderful talents, storylines, and surroundings.

When I went to see the theatre production of A Few Good Men recently, I was asked my friend Ger what my favourite show has been over the last 18 months. It was a very good question, and after some thought I could have narrowed it down a little, however all in all there was no winner – I mean how could I choose just one from all the wonderful shows that I had seen?

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of entertaining a Russian girl (Viktoryia) who was in London on business with our company and I decided to take her to one of the all time greats, The Phantom of the Opera. The show has been running since 1986. Well, at half time, I looked at her, and she looked back at me with tears about to fall from our eyes and I realised that I had finally found my favourite show of the last 18 months! The show was simply amazing, the storyline, the singing, the stage and prop work was all of such a wonderful standard that just left you feeling completely part of the show itself and full of emotional. The standing ovation at the end suggested that many in the audience had as wonderful time as we did.

I would absolutely recommend anybody taking the opportunity to see this show!

Hampton Court Palace

Sunday 18 October

I had heard a lot of good things about Hampton Palace, and it certainly did not disappoint me, it even exceeded my expectations. Not your typical palace, with its architecture representing several different eras (Baroque, Tudor and Georgian…) and its history far more interesting than most.

Hampton Court has been home to many royals, the most famous being, Cardinal Worsley, Henry VIII (and some of his six wives! including Catherine Howard who was sent to her death by Henry and is said to still haunt the palace), William III and his wife Queen Mary II.

The day was one of the best value for money outings I have ever had in London. There are several tours that take people step by step through the different sections of the palace, led by people dressed in costume to represent the era of which they are talking through, you almost feel like you really have been transcended back in time and are actually there! The palace is much bigger than it looks or than I expected and has many stories to tell behind those walls I am sure! The palace gardens were enormous and so beautiful (and it’s not like I normally marvel at gardens!) I spent about 6 hours in the palace and still feel like I could go back again.

I found Hampton Court to be a very spiritual place to spend some time, and it intrigued me much more than than other palaces that I have seen in Europe. I would love to have known what life was like behind certain walls in certain times throughout the palace!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Thanksgiving - Canadian Style

Saturday 15 October


On Saturday just gone, I experienced my very first Thanksgiving with my new flatmate Jen who is Canadian. Canada celebrate their thanksgiving on October 7. Having never been through the rituals of a Thanksgiving I was rather excited about having my first and it was good prep for the Thanksgiving I will be having with my friends in the states in a few weeks time!

Jen spent most of Friday and some of Sat preparing food - baked camembert and a variety of other cheeses she got in France, smoked salmon, array of veges, sausages, sweet potato mash with marshmallows (a family secret), pumpkin pie, and of course the Turkey! All of this was absolutely sensational of course and she was definately ready for her first glass of champers when it came time!


I think the most fun and enjoyable event of the night was the pumpkin carving! When Jen first asked me if I had carved a pumpkin before, I thought she meant cutting it up to put in the pot which couldnt have been further from what I was about to do. Between the 8 of us for dinner that night we teamed up to "carve our pumpkins" - a lot of hilarity followed but with excellent results at the end of the night. One pumpkin we all felt was the saddest pumpkin you had ever seen and we were certain he was going to end it that night by leaping off the balcony. My pumpkin, with the aid of a fellow dinner guest ended up being the biggest and scariest - would definately recommend this to anyone who has not done it before.

The night ended up with some good old fashioned girly talk about love, life and the meaning of the universe and I had a really fabulous first Thanksgiving!