So yesterday I went to the British Museum. There is some amazing stuff there… as i walked around, ipod plugged in (.. i think it was ebtg) I was pretty gob smacked by some of the things they have on display. For instance, I was looking at various axe heads.. some of them were dated as hundreds of thousands of years old!!

I also came across what was labelled “mummy of cleopatra”.. and her sarcophagus and things. I found this very hard to believe.. but there it was for all to see! Anyway, it occurred to me: “what the hell is it doing here?” .. surely this is a national treasure of Egypt? I’m sure there are many good reasons why rich western countries should pilfer and “safe keep” antiquities from around the world, I have seen Indiana Jones, but it still seems a little sad some how.

On another note, the water tastes funny here in London. It is supposedly very hard. Which accounts for the limestone residue you see on kettle elements and on the statues in fountains. I have been attributing the bad coffee to the bad water. There is a plague of various coffee chains here. I have actually turned to the evil Starbucks and started buying brewed, filter coffee. At leasts it seems to taste the same as any other filter coffee I am used to. At 1.6 GBP it as actually less expensive than most of the other stuff too. …Fortunately, I actually quite like filter coffee - with a small dash of milk please!

Well I have stayed in my small studio flat in Bayswater today. Just applying for jobs and looking for alternate, less expensive accomodation.

I have been watching a lot of television and I am now watching my third tv show that deals with appraising and sometimes selling people’s collectables. I have to say, a lot of this stuff really does look like junk - albeit, some of it seems to be valuable junk! There is furniture, toys, china, trinkets… everything. It’s amazing… loads of junk. I am amazed at people actually buying this stuff. It kind of remind me of my mother who seems to love all these dust collectors. Maybe it’s just a reflection of how old this place (UK) is. There is a lot of history here… and people are interested.

I have been here in London for about a week now.

As i arrived into Paddington station from Heathrow last week, I was disappointed to realise that London was much like I had remembered from work visits I had had a few years ago. That is, it seemed old, grey, drab and tired.

For the moment, i am staying in Bayswater. It struck me that I have had so many people tell me how much they love London… and how nice this area is. I’m not so sure… but I have committed myself to at least six months and I was telling myself last week that I need to “stop and smell the roses” .. relocating over seas (by choice) is an opportunity not to be sneezed at. This is potentially a great adventure and an edifying experience. May as well make the most of it! ?

So I am trying to be open minded! I am looking at things and taking my time to try and observe my surroundings. Today I took a walk in Kensington Gardens and as I walked the streets of Notting Hill Gate, I noticed how many of them are lined with bright green leaf trees and white blossoms… very pleasant.

London also seems to have many sights and areas that are free to the public and well maintained… i have visited both the British Museum and National Portrait Gallery so far. I promise that I will visit a theatre and see one of the many shows soon.

One appalling thing is the smoking in restaurnts… it still seems to be very common here.. and i had forgotten how disgusting it is.

All in all… London is very different from home. It’s virtues are obvious, but haven’t immediately won my heart. But it’s only been a week, I’m sure I just need to look for different kinds of roses than I am used to.

I just spent four days in Phuket, Thailand where the Thai’s were celebrating new year.

Phuket is an amazing place. It is definately a party town. To celebrate the new year, the Thai’s have a water festival… i’m not sure of the significance of this, but it manifests as a huge water fight that lasts for several days. As I walked down the streets of Patong (one of the towns in Phuket) I was amazed to see thousands of water pistols, buckets and anything that would hold water. it wasn’t possibel to walk more than 5 meters without getting drenched. There were trucks loaded with people… dropping buckets on people as they drove passed. Kids would hide around corners and ambush Tuk Tuk’s as they drove passed.

This lasted for 3 days and was relentless. If you ever get a chance, this is definately something to check out. But try and remained good humoured.. it’s only water and all done in fun.

It’s strange now to think that I was around - when here in Australia, we had little brown 1 and 2 cent coins. I can’t rememeber exactly when they were removed from circulation (Anyone?) - but I do remember my indignation. As a boy, I used to buy a mixed bag of 1c lollies from the corner shop. How was this going to be possible when there weren’t any 1 cents??? Ok, it was probably rare that I would actually buy less than 20c worth.. but it seemed like I needed to be able to buy 1 lollie if I so chose.

Also, it seemed to me, like an admition that our money has becoming worthless.

Anyway, I was pondering the other day. I realised that I have now beome scornful of our 5c pieces. In fact, I consider it a personal victory everytime I am able to string a few of these togther to pay for something. It annoys me to no end that I can’t use these to pay for road tolls or parking meters.

I kinda wonder if these will ever be on the way out too? I guess inflation and a decreasing value of currencyare inevitable…