Another mental night in Glasgow

Yesterday Jess and I went to Tronds house and watched Eagle vs Shark. Trond and Jess liked it and now think all kiwis are mental. "Its dermatologically sweet as."

Then we went to Morrisons and bought food and went to Jacquis house and I cooked curry for everyone. Jess and Trond played some weird old school video game of Lyalls.

Trond kicked Jess' arse.

Then we looked at our homes on google earth. Norway doesnt look that different to New Zealand.

Then we went out to meet Ben and Mikey at a pub. Night was generally memorable for many reasons. There were several calls to New Zealand. I apologise very much for that.

I love this city and all the people I have met here. It is one big party.

Then this morning for some unknown reason Phil cooked Jess and I the best breakfast Ive ever had. Olives and spinach and red onion and omlettey goooodness. What a good guy.

The Flying Duck

WE SAW STUART MURDOCH AT THE FLYING DUCK LAST NIGHT!

Awesome

The Flying Duck is a very cool bar. If there was a place like it in Dunedin we would live there. We've been there a few times now because its where Jacqui's flatmate DJs and he is awesome. Last night was an indie club night so the place was packed with hipsters (I used that term affectionately by the way). Good music, famous person sighting and balloons.

On Thursday night we went to see So So Modern at the Captains Rest. Such a bizzare thing to do. They were good. Not that many people were there - as Im sure you can imagine, no one has heard of them. Met an Irish guy in the bar and he asked me, not if I liked LOTR or FOTC but if I knew Disasteradio! Haha. He had a meal with Disasteradio once in Dublin. Such an odd world.

Such an unproductive week. Studying is so hard here. There are MUCH funner things to be doing.

x

Aussie Party

Jess is a pavlova. Im a BMX bandit. Google it if youre unsure. I have a bandage on from falling off my BMX and getting some mad gravel rash while in hot pursuit of those walkie talkie theives.

Jacqui was our host/life guard for the evening.

These were the shoes I wore. 2pounds at Primark. They are glittery. In the morning I was too embarrased to walk all the way home down Byres Road in them (I think the photo fails to capture just how blindingly flourescent they are), so Jess and I caugh a cab. When the cab driver pulled up he shouted out his window - and Im not joking - "I got a cab here for girl with flourescent shoes!", jeeeez. It was rather hilarious. And we only had 5pounds between us so when we back the residence we apologised for being cheap and he was like "No matter girls, I feel like I should have been paying you for a look at those shoes." What a nice man.

More from Carbisdale

I went to Jess' this afternoon and stole all her castle photos. So here is a photo update from epica weekend.
Some pretty highland scenery
Paparazzi
How cool is this place. Pretty cool. That's the answer.
Chilling in the Billiard Room. That's right.

Look away Granny, things are about to get a wee bit messy.
Jess and I are singing Britney Spears. We know this because someone had enough courtesy to film us.... yeah that video is never seeing the light of day....

That could have been messier actually. There were some worse ones. Like Phil playing 'lets pose inappropriately with the naked statues'... boys.

Aussie party tomorrow. Should be a ripper! Haha
x

Picnic

This is from a few weekends ago. Trond has a very very flash camera and consequently takes very very beautiful pictures.

Carbisdale Castle

Best weekend ever. Seriously.

We left horrifically early on Saturday morning - after having been at Hot Chip the night before, so not fun. Most unlike me I had done no research about the place we were going. I had no idea how far north we were going. But look!


Very north. HIGHLANDS! It was so cool. We went up the west coast, through Fort William and Inverness, it was so beautiful. This is us at somewhere in the Grampian Mountain range.
More mountains...

Pretty!

This was nearish Fort William. We stopped there for lunch. Getting pretty sick of British food to be honest. Pub meals are so bad for you. And chips here are average. And normally theres only egg sandwiches for the vegetarians in a sandwich shop. Its alright, I compensated but having lettuce for dinner. Feel better. Anyway, after Fort William we carried on to Inverness via... LOCH NESS
Didnt see Nessie.

We carried on further north and by about 5 we were at the CASTLE! Its so freaking cool. It was built in 1904 maybe, something like that. Some history about a Norwegian King owning it and gifting it to Britain during the war. This led to a running joke that Trond was actually the Prince of Norway undercover in Scotland trying to have a normal student experience. It was good. He woke up with 'His Royal Highness the Prince of Norway' written all over him. Haha.

This is the Trond talking to the King on the phone in Inverness. I like to photograph him when he speaks Norwegian. Understandably, he thinks Im a bit weird.

I like castles.
Exciting times. Of course there were many Harry Potter references all weekend. Theres an amazing grand entrance hall filled with paintings and statues and Jess and I stared at one for a while to see if it would move. It didnt. And we tried to make the staircases move. After we got our room, the six of us ran around like small children for like an hour. It was so fun. There was a dining room, two loungy library rooms, a billiard room (we pretended we were in the Cluedo mansion for a bit when we made this discovery) and lots of other amazing discoveries. IT WAS SO COOL.

Then we retired to our quarters for some drinks. We felt like the naughty kids on camp. We were rather silly at dinner. Later there was a DJ set up in the top floor hall and we danced to the crappest music. Fun though. Things generally decsended in to chaos pretty quickly. There are a lots of ridiculous photos but they are all on Jess' camera. You will just have to imagine it. It really was the best night ever. We were sitting in out room for ages, just talking, drinking and eating chips. There was a fire alarm at one point. What an adventure. Its was quite easy to get lost actually. So yes, went to bed at maybe 3.30; ripper hangovers the next day. I was so confused when I woke up. The ceiling was really fancy and I could see a mist covered loch out my window. Seriously took like a minute before I remembered.

I though my new cape was particularly appropriate for my highland adventure.

We went walking around the castle for a bit (feeling around in front of ourselves in case we bumped into some thestrals). We had slept through breakfast which was lame. So hungry. Left Carbisdale about 12 and didnt stop for food until Pitlochry at 4. Starving starving. Then drove through Perth and back to Glasgow. The bus ride was long but it was a good way to see everything. The highlands are beautiful. Trond and I have sat together on most of these long bus trips we've done, and Phil said he liked it because it was like having the discovery channel on in the background. I know a lot about Norway now I tell you, and Trond knows a lot about New Zealand. His favourite thing that Ive said was when I was defending the use of the word 'dairy' to describe a corner shop. The Aussies think thats rediculous (they call it a Milk Bar though so I dont really see their angle on this one). Anyway, Trond was like - if you call a shop a dairy, what to you call a dairy?.
Niki: Whats a dairy?
Trond: you know, where they package milk products.
Niki: (bewildered) Ummm, I dont think they have a name.
(Trond breaks out into hysterical laughter)
Niki: Isnt that just a milk factory?
Trond liked that my defence was that it doesnt have a name.

All rather silly. But I can also tell you a lot about Norwegian politics, music, industry, social issues, average income... yeah you name it, on that 6 hour journey we probably discussed it.

Trond is fantastic.

So yes, back now in Glasgow. AMAZING weekend. Now I have to write a damn essay. Groan. But going to Spoon at King Tuts tonight! Yay!

xx

Hot Chip!

THEY WERE INCREDIBLE.
After the gig Jess and I went and bought hot chips. We felt it was necessary. We ate them in a door way like the classy ladies we are.

London!

Hello everybody. So, went to London for the weekend. The more I'm away the more I realise how much Glasgow has already become my home. And also that, New Zealand is where I want to live. I dont get why London attracts so many antipodeans. Its busy and polluted and grey and everyone is in such a freakin rush all the time. The tube was one of the most stressful environments Ive ever been in in my life. Having said that, I did have an excellent weekend.

I took the train down on Friday morning. I like trains. Got to the hostel about 2.30 where I met Maxine - a friend from Otago - and her friend Mel. That night we went out to Camden to hang out with their friend Toby who showed us around the pubs.

The next day was Waitangi Day. In London, for those unaware, on Waitangi Day there is a huge pub crawl around the circle line that ends at Westminster. It was pretty ridiculous. And not really my kind of thing at all. But definitely humourous. There were people dressed as sheep, lots of Murrays from FOTC, Weetbix kiwi kids triathalon competitors, utter nutter peanut butter kids, pukekos, bottles of Canterbury Draught, L&P bottles, Chelsea sugar bags, buzzy bees, the cast of shortland street, 4 square men and one guy who was a perfect Jeff da Maori. He even had a joint. So yes, lots of hilarity. It was very strange to be surrounded by so many kiwi accents. And although I wasnt that boozed or dressed up it was a good afternoon - an excellent way to see London, just wandering the streets.
So then about 3 all the kiwis head towards Westminster. There were so many cops everywhere, all in excellent humour, posing for photos, letting drunkards try on their hats. 4 is when all the boys rip off their shirts and do the haka so to pass the time there was naturally a very messy and muddy rugby game on the lawn in front of big ben.
Yes, that is a guy dressed as a sheep. One of a flock.

The haka was pretty rough - but better than the one in Invictus. Anyone seen that film? Don't. Matt Damon doing a South African accent is the only enjoyable bit.

On our way back to the hostel we went for coffee, and LOOK!

I know, I know. Starbucks is evil - but Mel is lactose intolerant and generally in the UK if you want soy milk you have to go to a big chain. Weird.
Also - lol at them charging more for a flat white because its 'expertly hand crafted'. I didnt get one, despite all the fuss I made about it. Im too used to my long blacks now.

That night we didnt go out, we were to tired from the night before and the day time drinking. Its illegal to drink on the streets in London but no one cares on Waitangi day for some reason. I cant get over how nice the cops were. Even went a rugby ball went flying into their van and left a dent they didnt stop the - I cant really call it a rugby game, more a mud fight.

The next day was Niki's sight seeing day. Maxine and Mel were going to Bristol so I went by myself, which was really good because it meant I could do exactly the stuff I wanted to do. I went to the Tate. It was amazing. So so good. There was a room full of soviet propaganda posters. And an Andy Warhol room and a Surrealism room and a Roy Leichenstien room. Generally I was pretty happy.

Then I went to the Globe! The season for plays there starts in April so I couldnt see a play, but I went on the tour and got to go inside and feel generally pretty cool.

After the globe I went to Camden. Camden is like the alternative/bohemian part of London. Its rather cool. Theres a Doc Marten store there that has a huge boot on its roof. But the best bit of Camden is the Stables market. Its one of about 4 markets in Camden, all of them are huge. The Stables is the best for vintage. SO EPIC! I was there for maybe 4 hour s. I looked at so many beautiful things. Lots of it is really expensive but as much is really reasonable. I bought a cute velvet jacket for £5. Its really cool. I had a very good time.


So not the most traditional London excursion. Didnt go to Buckingham, or any of the big museums, or see a show in the west end. Not bothered though.

Also, why would a person want to send family/friends a postcard with Princess Diana's face on it? That perplexed me. They were everywhere.

Next adventure: Hot Chip, Castle trip/Loch Ness, Spoon. Big weekend ahead.
Oh and some essay writing. Promise.

xxo

Chups and dup

Thanks to Cathro I was able to treat the gang to some good proper kiwi chips and dip. (Thanks Cathro!) Who knew dip was such an exclusively kiwi thing? Strange. It didnt go down too well generally. All the more for me! Num num num

There is a video of me making it and the others faces as they try it which is pretty good but the internetz wont let me load it. I think its too long.
x

This place is great.

I think the photo says it all...



Also, for the benefit of all those Doctor Who and Capatin Jack fans out there - you are clearly not alone....



Hopefully you can see Jack in the window there. I wonder where a person finds a life size cardboard Jack... more importantly... can such a thing be carried on to an international flight... hmmm. Saw this today when I was walking home from uni. Its amazing how much one can discover simply by walking on the other side of the street.

x