if you haven't heard...he has arrived...

safe and sound...on tuesday...

Balut...AAGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!

so, we purchased our first package of eggs...as with many things here, its quite different in that the eggs are not white...or at least i didn't find any...the eggs are generally brown in various tints in the package to a dark brown to even some with reddish tint to it...

anyways, we cooked our first sunday brunch this morning...the usual...sausages, toast, eggs, cheese, and some fruit...

well, i was about to crack my third egg to make my famous over easy eggs when i noticed a FEATHER sticking out of it!!!

needless to say, i pretty much freaked out and hurled it in the garbage...

no...we did not bother to look at what was inside the egg, as it would likely ruin our appetite for eggs for probably a couple of years...

traumatic i say...traumatic...

can you crump???

A good many persons were wondering what crumpets were...its funny how everyone heard of crumpets before, yet i never heard of it until i got here...now, i have them most mornings with my tea...its hard to describe, but i tell most people who ask that its a cross between an english muffin and a waffle...best served with butter as seen above...soaks right through...mmm...mmm...goooood...

the "heat wave"...

so...we had no idea until we got here...but there is no air conditioning anywhere here...most office buildings have air conditioning but not all...most stores and restaurants have air conditioning but not all...and the majority of flats and houses appear to NOT have air conditioning including our flat...and there is no airconditioning at all on the TUBE!

obviously, the main reason is that during the "summer"...it rarely hits above 85 degrees...it primarly stays in the 70-80 range. The issue is whenever it gets above 80...it is a freakin' sauna everywhere because the buildings here weren't really made for great circulation. So, electric fans are just blasting everywhere here...and the tube is a freakin' sweat shop...add another 10-15 degrees and the air temperature on the tube is near 90 to 95 with barely any air circulation...add the fact that everyone on the tube is wearing a suit and is crammed in like sardines...and it is sweaty and smelly mania...

so, people complain all the time that there is no real "summer" here...but i can't even imagine if it ever hit the Chicago summer where it hits 90 degrees constantly...if that ever happened, people would be keeling over on the tube and all around london...i now know why men carry handkerchiefs...its because they have to wipe the sweat off their brow...there are some professionals that get off the tube that are soaked in sweat and its only 8am...great way to start the day...

but that is the way off life...

i guess we'll get the benefits later because we don't have to experience the chicago winters...yech.

number 7...number 7...

so, we went to Ascot yesterday with a group of my co-workers...good ol' horse racing...we got all dressed up...it was a good british experience...princess got to wear a big ol' hat that we got at JL...probably one of the only times she will ever wear it...but its weird seeing everyone all dressed up...all prim and proper...we saw some big hats but nothing too crazy...there were definitely a bunch of drunkards in the pleb area...just funny because the drunkards were generally over 40...

we finally drank pimms and lemonade...however, we didn't expect that they would put limes, lemon, oranges, and cucumber in it...the british sangria i guess...it was good...but then i just went to cider the rest of the day...

so, we definitely lost more than twice what we won...but we won on the number 7 horse for a couple of races in a row...then for the big race of the day, we gambled on number 7 again and lost...so we ditched number 7...but of course for the next race, number 7 won again...geez luiz...

the first night at 4a...

we are here...first night at our nice little flat...just getting settled in...and for our first dinner in da hood we went to a place that a co-worker recommended...this malaysian/singapore restaurant down the street...myra had her favorite singapore dish "haiwanese chicken rice"...and...surprisingly...they had one filipino dish on the menu...good ol' chicken and pork adobo...and it was pretty good...definitely a keeper restaurant...

there are so many restaurants and stores down the street...basically we can hit about 50 restaurants within a 10 minute walk...tons of italian, asian (japansese, chinese, of course indian), and fast food (mcdonalds, burger king, KFC, pizza hut)...there are two asain grocery stores down the street...myra has already overdosed on her favorite kalamansi juice drink...and of course tons of designer stores to small boutiques to shady establishements...

we are ready for visitors...with people slowly chiming in and making travel arrangements...yay.

it will be good times and despite the size of our place, we think people will like it cause it definitely is cozy and its in a perfect location to get the true london experience...

a good meal at...

So, we've been meaning to eat here since our first day in London as it's down the street from us...so, we finally had dinner here tonight (ribs for princess and fish n' chips for waterloo) as its one of our last nights before we move...the name of the place can speak for itself...



Oddly enough...this bank was directly across the street...