A quickie from London

Thanks for all the emails and messages asking me to update! It’s been a great week settling in, getting used to the tube, and of course going to work. I'm now installed in a very comfortable serviced apartment right on Kensington High St, and seem to have semi-settled into a routine - getting up at about 7ish for work, checking the weather to see if I need an umbrella or a heavier coat, praying the District line works and there are no train delays...

I wish I could show pictures of my apartment and other things I’ve seen, done and eaten, but my camera is not working…sob. I hope it can be fixed without costing an arm and a leg!

Here’s a quick list of what I got up to in the last week:

• First dinner of fish & chips (what else?) in Piccadilly
• Got lost in Harrods food hall while looking for Laduree
• Got a Harrods Rewards card because I wanted the 10% discount when buying a pair of shoes.
• Yes, I’ve bought a pair of shoes from Harrods. I could only hold out for a week. Patent blue mary jane flats, great for walking!
• Went to Holy Trinity Brompton for Sunday 11.30 service
• Had dinner at Four Seasons (duck & siew yoke!)
• Watched Lion King. The sets and costumes are really cleverly and beautifully done, but the musical is a little too loooong. I almost dozed off in the second half.
• Set off the smoke alarm in my apartment while making toast…oops!
• Set up my bank account with HSBC...hurrah! It wasn't as painful as I expected, but probably because I made sure I had all the necessary documents
• Activated a pay-as-you-go mobile phone. That took a bit of time as the people at the Carphone Warehouse were sooo helpful.
• Boring adult things like making appointments to see apartments and to register for a National Insurance number
• Did my first load of laundry and cooked for the first time in years…woohoo!
• Eaten dim sum…twice, and during the same weekend! Once at Royal China Club in Baker St, and the other at Imperial China near Leicester Sq. Royal China is much nicer, definitely more posh. The lobster dumplings are amazing!

Some observations:

• It's not girly to carry an umbrella. Because of the drippy weather, everyone, including men, carries one just in case. Actually, just as the stereotype that everyone in Paris walks around with a baguette tucked under their arm is true, the one about a man in a suit with a big umbrella and a newspaper holds pretty true here too.
• It's sale season now! Every single shop has a big 'Sale!' sign in its window, with discounts of up to 70% off. However, because London is so expensive, the sales just bring their prices down to normal prices back home. Boo.
• The Tesco brand frozen desserts are really yummy! We've tried the sticky toffee pudding, strawberry trifle and chocolate éclairs so far. So much for the diet.
• UK keyboards are different! Because of the £ (which is located above the number 3), some other symbols have been moved around, like “ and @.