Harrods, The Queen and England v San Marino

Mum and Dad are in England at the moment, visiting me and staying in Manchester with my Grandparents. They came down to London for 5 nights, so I took advantage of their open wallets and the fact they missed me (the favourite). The first night they arrived was my third celebration of my 21st birthday!

My sister made me a book full of anecdotes and quotes, and pictures of my face stuck of celebrities, it's very funny and full of glitter in classic Emma style. She also organised for lots of my friends from home to sign me a 21st card, which made me laugh, especially Matt's macaron quip. I got a whole bunch of things from home, my laptop (eeee), clothes and books etc. So good day.

Father

Finally!

Self-Explanatory

Kanye cup from Primark

On the Friday, we had some fun adventures around London, saw the Queen, went to Harrods (whose sandwiches are cheaper than my old work, very awkward), the V&A museum, the Natural History Museum and did some shopping in Chelsea. Mum bought her new pro camera with her and I got a bit attached to it. I've included a selection of the 400 photos I took that day!

Can't have one without the other

Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and a bus

Standard

Aww

Oooo

I still maintain this is the easiest job ever

Pelican in Buckingham Palace Gardens

Hey

Thanks for the heads up

Harrods

They're just better over here

Artichokes

Mmm

Expensive Harrods roses

Bread basket

Teeny weeny cakes

The V&A Museum

Testing out the macro setting in Chelsea

Art shop in Chelsea called the Green & Stone

That night, Dad and I went to Wembley and watched a cracking game of international football on the Friday night. I say cracking because England won 5-0, but apparently the San Marino players have day jobs, like teachers and window cleaners. Poor lads. I had fun though, I bought a beanie after all. The lovely day was topped off by being asked by a 50-year-old man with missing teeth if I'd like to get a coffee with him. I love the Tube.

Giant England Flag

England flag on my face, and England beanie!

He did such a good fake the meds came on the pitch

He taught me everything I know about football. Not a lot.

Sorry for the photo bombardment! But on the bright side my blog will be better now that I have my laptop.

hold up

I have a whole heap of stuff to blog about, so will get onto it this weekend. Sorry for the absence, loyal readers....

Instagram Party

Shazam, imma let you finish, but Instagram is the best app of all time.
#badjokes #myspecialty

Follow me @anniedz

Review: The Temper Trap- Hammersmith Apollo

4 October 2012

London's Hammersmith Apollo has been home to many famous bands over the years, from The Beatles, to Kings of Leon and David Bowie. Tonight however, the stage well and truly belonged to the Australian four-piece The Temper Trap. The band, who now call London home, played a good selection of tracks from their two albums, on this tour supporting their second, self-titled record.

Lead singer Dougy Mandagi's voice and the impressive lighting were incredible right from the first song, the fitting London's Burning, and the audience knew immediately they were in for a good time.

Standout tracks included the new Need Your Love, Science of Fear, and the old favourite Fader, which got the second loudest cheer, the loudest of course going to Sweet Disposition.
The band played Love Lost surprisingly early in the set, unusual considering most bands play their fan favourites towards the end, to keep the punters in their seats.
The boys needn't have worried though, the combination of bass player Jonathon Aherne's amazing dancing, Dougy's on-stage persona and the quality of the songs and musicianship kept the audience swaying right until the end.
The instrumental track, The Drum Song, was the highlight, with the whole band coming together as one, and Dougy's pouring of water onto his drum skin, giving a unique effect when hit, made the crowd go wild.

Although a few tracks were missing from the setlist, Rest and Fools among them, the audience greeted each song with immense cheering and clapping, and the amount of people singing along made it clear these fans knew the band well. Anyone standing in the foyer before the show couldn't help but notice the amount of Australians present, and The Temper Trap (with the boomerang attached to Dougy's mic stand) bought a little piece of home to London.


Setlist:

London's Burning
Need Your Love
Love Lost
The Sea is Calling
Rabbit Hole
Fader
This Isn't Happiness
Trembling Hands
Miracle
Science of Fear
Resurrection
Drum Song
---------------------------
Soldier On
Sweet Disposition

A Birthday and an Anniversary

I've said it before and I'll say it again, time goes so fast. I've already been in my dorm for a week (hence the one week anniversary), I feel like I've done a lot in that time!

First of all, my room. Since I posted those last pictures I have been to Ikea, so it's a bit different now! I've decorated the wall with a huge map of London (see Birthday), new bed sheets and some re-arranging of furniture. Don't worry, I'm definitely getting new curtains. It feels a bit more at home now, I've just got to fill it with knick knacks and 'stuff' then it'll be perfect. If anyone was thinking of visiting an staying with me, you can see I have minimal space, but you could curl up in the shower or something.

Next, London! I've done a fair bit of exploring already, as I have a lot of time on my hands, no job and uni doesn't start until Monday! I've been to:

•Columbia Road Flower Markets, so amazing, a street lined with Cockneys trying to get you to buy their flowers "you should be mobbin' us at these pwices", and one that Mary heard once "so cheap you can buy 'em for a bird you don' even like!

•Victoria & Albert Museum Lates, which is a Friday every month, no kids allowed, and you can look at all the exhibitions whilst drinking wine, and they have unusual demonstrations, like hula hooping. The museum is an art and design one so it has some very cool exhibits.

• Shopping on Oxford Street. This is crazy and a bit stressful but you can get anything you could ever want here.

• More markets: Covent Garden, Spitalfields and Brick Lane.

Between my London Lonely Planet, and my two new books, the London Coffee Guide 2012 (see Birthday), and the London Style Guide, I have a long list of things to do, and I will keep you duly informed of how I'm going.

BIRTHDAY
21! 21! Had a great day in my new home, the first half was spent opening cards from parents and grandparents (thank you once again for their contents!), skyping Brittany, and shopping. I looked around Oxford Street and spent a good hour at the huge Piccadilly Waterstones (5 levels of books) and bought myself some gifts! I got a jumper, some jeans, the London Style Guide and a Moroccan Arabic phrase book for my upcoming trip to Morocco! I then met Mary and Malesa at The Wolseley for lunch, which is a very fancy restaurant in the heart of London, and the fact their wasn't a celebrity there when we were was rare! Last time we walked past and saw Michael Parkinson having a spot of lunch, it's the type of place where you take one sip of your water and the waiter refills your glass. So anyway, I sat down and had gifts rained upon me by Mary; the coffee guide, the lovely map, a gluten and dairy free cupcake, and some bacon jam (it's delicious)! Thank you again Mary for my gifts I love them! I ate the chopped chicken salad and some
chips, and the girls hot eggs hollandaise. Then, after I asked for the bill, the waiter said "I'll see what I can do", then he came back and laid out some knives, which made me a giggly and wandering what was about to happen, then they bought out a plate of macarons (how did they know!?) and presented me with The Wolseley breakfast recipe book, which they had signed happy birthday on the inside cover! And all the waiters were wishing me happy birthday and I was embarrassed but chuffed at the same time! Afterwards Malesa and I went to Whole Foods Market, which is a mecca for people who like food and have food allergies (*ahem*), and wandered around London some more. I was knackered at the end of the day, but I still had two more presents. A) a call from Mum and Dad who got to Manchester that day. They're coming up to London next week, THANK GOD, they have my computer after all. And B) I read Jacinta's blog post she wrote for me! I haven't seen her since she left for New York in November last year, and I miss her a lot. After I read the post I think the room got all dusty because my eyes were watering, weird huh. Thanks J.

Lots of exciting things coming up, I'm seeing Temper Trap (again) tomorrow, Freshers Fair on Friday, classes start Monday, Joni and Sophie get to London Tuesday, Mum and Dad get to London Thursday, (probably) watching England play San Marino at Wembley Stadium Friday, seeing the Michael Jackson musical Saturday, and going back to Manchester with M&D the following weekend! So expect some blogs X