So, it's about time I update this stuff eh? The last update wasn't really an update, it was more of an appeal.

You guys haven't had a rundown of my English jaunt, or of what I'm doing now, what I'm doing in the future and all that. Soooo I'll give you a rundown now, yeah? Good deal?

I know people say it's cliche and all that jazz, but I had the time of my life. I adored London. Loved it. I was enthralled by it. A wonderful city, very busy, very dirty, very crowded, very expensive, quite quite spectacular. The last time I've been to a city outside of Australia (and the only time) was when I went to KL when I was 12. This place was just in another league.

I stayed with Gemma for the entirety and it was awesome being based out of Hackney. I saw a lot of diversity out that way, experienced the basics of snacks from the off license and trips on the bus. I saw lots, but not as much as I wanted to. You know the case, you get there and thing "Seven weeks is ages, no need to rush" and then you look up and you've got two days to go. It just went so quickly.

The first week I had a lot of short sleeps as my brain was all out of whack. I settled eventually, but Gemma didn't enjoy me waking her up at 5am to get some milk . One of the things I really remember strongly is the second day. A lot of firsts, like my first tube and first jaunt into Oxford and Regent Sts. But I vividly remember Westminster tube station (awesome station) and coming out at the base of Big Ben. An astounding piece of architecture, and I was in awe.

After I settled we trooped around seeing things, and broke it up by having lazy days at home eating lots of lindt and watching things. I got addicted to digestives and Diavolos. I learnt the huge class difference in basic shopping - an entirely new concept to me. We have basic class shopping with stuff like Target to Myer here but nothing on the scale found in England. I found class supermarkets the most amusing, finding us shopping mostly at Waitrose and M&S and avoiding places like Tesco and the like. Does that make me middle class?

We went to museums like the Tate, National History Museum and the National Gallery, we went for long walks (the prime one would be walking all the way down the Strand looking for KFC () only to end up at Trafalgar Sq eating pizza!), short walks, stood in the freezing cold welcoming in the New Year, traditional tourist places like Westminster Abbey, St Pauls, the Tower, Harrods, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, went on the London Eye, travelled down to Worthing for a late Christmas, ate donuts at Brighton Pier, went up to Liverpool, got all fanboyish about Anfield (!!!!!!!!!) while Gemma got bored shitless, saw a West End show (Rowan Atkinson didn't perform, unfortunately ), saw a cockney market seller ("Three dafs for a fiiiiiiiiiiver"), spent loads of money, .

We went to Paris for six days, catching the Eurostar, ate at the same place three times, were completely stumped with language numerous times, walked the Louvre, walked the Champs Elysees, went up the Eiffel Tower (at night! ), went to the Palace of Versailles, climbed Mont Matre, went to Notre Dame, marvelled at rubber tire trains and generally had a fantastic time.

The best day I had though was when it snowed. I cannot describe how great that day was. Just pure wonder, happiness, silliness, joy, more happiness, love, more love, more fun. Best day I've had. Best best day ever.

Through all of these though, I enjoyed them because I had a wonderful person to share them with. Those seven weeks were truly amazing, and in hindsight I wish I had stayed for longer. It was unbelievable, and I have never felt that happy. If Gemma wasn't there to be silly with and to share all the places we went to, to whinge about sore feet to, or to blab about the football to, I wouldn't have had anywhere near as much of a fantastic time as I did. Gemma, I love you to bits!


I've got some photos up on Facebook, but not all of them. I will get them up eventually! If you want to peek, here are the current ones up:

1st week: [link]

3rd week: [link]

4th week: [link]

Paris days 1 & 2: [link]

Paris days 3 & 4: [link]

The snow day!: [link]


Weeks 2, 6, 7 and Paris days 5 & 6 still to come!

So what's come out of that trip? Well, we're getting married. That's right, Gemma and I are very happily engaged! We've got a provisional date booked in Feb, and we're currently working towards a visa for Gemma. She's moving here in August!

It's something we were talking about for a few months. The seven weeks together really affirmed the point that life with each other is just utter joy. I don't want any more time apart from her. I'll spare you the mushy bits, but it's the biggest decision of our lives, and it was one of the easiest.

Coming home sucked majorly. But what am I doing now? I'm still chugging along at Uni, hopefully it's my last semester of subjects. I can't tell you how much I've lost interest, but I know I'm close to the end so that's pushing me on.

I've been relatively reclusive though. No mates doing my classes at Uni so I've been keeping to myself a lot. I went to the meet just after I got back but I was exhausted at that thing so I slept a bit. Spent some time with Tyson and those times kept me kind of still connected to the real world. I haven't got myself a job yet.

Last week my Mum's father died, and she flew out to Malaysia. It was quite devastating for us, and a tragedy in a sense. Mum was going to go at the end of last year but had to put it off due to a lack of leave. This was due to her thesis. I missed out seeing him as my grandparents went home from KL to up north two days before I stopped through. I hadn't seen him since I was twelve. We were shattered.

Mum arrived back this morning, she seems in good spirits but I know she wants to still be with her family. We all want to go there but we can't due to money. It brought the whole family back to reality and it made me feel a bit stupid worrying about assignments.

Mum graduated with her Masters in Urban Planning, so she's now got two Masters, a degree and a diploma. She's an inspiration to us. A major inspiration. I can't say how much I'm in awe of what she has achieved.

So what's to come? A lot. A fantastic amount. But in the immediate, two week future?

There's a devmeet on this Saturday. You should go. We're having lunch together! Come!


I think I've written enough. If you passed over the wall of text looking for a summary:

I loved London.

Gemma and I got engaged!

A summary since I got home.

devMeet this Saturday.


I do hope you're all well. Fill me in with new events if I haven't spoken to you lately!