What is this.... a barbecue in winter??

Well no not quite... technically its April which means its technically spring. So it was an attempt at the first barbecue of the summer months. Unfortunately, Britain doesn't seem to get 'hot months' so rather than sit inside eagerly rubbing our hands together throughout April, May and June awaiting 'summer' to arrive and bring with it heat and sunlight only to be disappointed when July and August arrives and it rains anyway and you STILL have to wear a jacket everywhere... we thought we would rebel against the elements.

Or at the very least we cleaned up outside and had a practice BBQ.

And what do you know we actually got the BBQ to work... although we'll admit it was touch and go for a while there...

Particularly when Erin dropped a burger down into the coals and we both screamed... Apparently , 'you're not supposed to scream' when you're cooking on the BBQ. However I maintain that this was a genuinely scary moment... nobody likes to see good food meet an end like that.

And it was good food. Nothing but the best quality for our guests. Although we would like to apologise for the Iceland sausages (the supermarket, not the country) I'd like to give that Kerry Katona woman a slap. Mum's should not go to Iceland under any circumstance.. unless they want their children to feast on processed foods and preservatives.

How were we to know that 40 sausages for £2 wasn't going to end well?


In the future we'll know to read the contents before we buy... and to look for food that doesn't contain 'beef connective tissue'


And at the end of the night we pulled out the shish and all was forgiven.


A nice practice run for summer we thought and how prepared we shall be when the weather actually does warm up!

Health and Safety, Health and Safety!!

In the interests of public health our sponsors this week will be bringing you posts aimed to raise awareness for health and safety issues.

Our first installment will focus on five surefire ways to predict on your way to work whether or not you've exceeded the sensible amount of alcohol consumption the previous evening. They are as follows:

1) You have to stop to catch your breath no less than three times on your way up the steps at the tube station.

2) You fall asleep standing up whilst waiting for the tube to arrive and are too scared to stand near the edge of the platform in case a great gust of wind comes along and knocks you onto the tracks.

3) You start to notice that people are definitely keeping a subtle distance from you on the crowded tube. You are aware that this is likely because a) you look slightly disheveled b) there is a distinctive alcohol vapour seeping from your pores still and c) you're pretty sure that you've started to drool despite the fact that you're no longer asleep.

4) You are quietly confident that you can make it to work without vomiting. However you do have one or two "rabbit caught in headlight" moments of panic when you just don't think you're going to make it. You start to reason in your head which of the passengers around you most deserves to be vomited on should you not be able to hold on any longer.

5) You catch your reflection in the mirror and realise that you still have red wine staining on your lips that you completely failed to notice when "getting ready"* for work that morning.

Please be advised that should you find that you meet all five of these criteria it is probably in your best interests (as well as your co-workers) to just turn around and head straight back home again. Feel free to inform your employer that it is in fact 'health and safety... health and safety'

*Please note, when we say "getting ready" we are actually alluding to the 45 minutes you spent mooching around the house looking for anything to drink that had sugar content in it and debating the pros and cons of eating toast before you absolutely HAD to leave the house so that you weren't irrevocably late.

Wig and Hat Party

Earlier this month, a friend over here had a housewarming party around the corner from us in Acton.

It was a wig and hat party.

We were very excited about this.

So we pur-chased some fake hair and armed with a bottle of vodka and some ingenious new eyelashes we hit the party. Here is the outcome....





Blue steel at its most glam














The boys opted for hats and pretty faces as opposed to wigs








Aylin, Caz and I.













We thought we looked 'truly outrageous' in the style of Jem








In hindsight.... we were more 'glam' a la muppets..

It was gold!

Debauchery, Dublin and surprisingly more debauchery

Ok ok so its been a little while since my last update and a lot has happened, so I'm just gonna post up a whole bunch of pictures and let them tell the story.

First came Australia Day, twas a Thursday as you all know, so we headed to the Redback in Acton after work. Being the keen enthusiast that we are we were among the first in there and scored a free BBQ, free t-shirt and a free Fosters Visor with my first snakie! It was quite an evening and whilst I would like to be able to share more photos from the evening with you... I didn't take any others due to... technical difficulties! Caz has some and I'm sure they'll be on her bugbitten site before long.

This is me, Kristy and Shtine modelling our new shirts and visors... free stuff is just so so great!!

Stu, me and Roy




That weekend we headed off to Dublin for Kel's last weekend away before she went home. Dublin was cold and grey... much like London but we had us a good time, enjoying such sights as the Guinness factory and after trying to get down two pints of the stuff I can conclusively say that I do not like it, and it is not a taste I will ever acquire! We also saw some traditional Irish music had some traditional Irish food and went to a traditional... RnB club....

Rach me and Caz in Temple Bar.. us against the cobblestones!

No surprises for guessing where we are here.

Kel, Rach and I at a club which was literally next door to our hostel... gold.

And then... came Waitangi day. Mine and Carrie's first Waitangi day. The day after Kel's going away, a little worse for wear.. we dragged ourselves out at
midday for New Zealands great celebration of Waitangi day. We were toured and educated by Erin, our Kiwi flatmate.











In return, we thought we should educate Erin and her sheep friend about some of the more traditional Aussie ways...

We figured My Little Pony had a thing or two to learn as well.....










The whole point of the day was to go on the infamous Circle Line pub crawl. The circle line is a tube line which just does a big loop through central London. You can only catch the circle line and you can't sit down or hold on! You have to stop at a pub at each stop for a drink. We started at Notting Hill and found it difficult to find said 'pubs' at each stop so we went into the nearest offie instead and just stocked up and had a beer at each stop...more time efficient that way we felt.

The culmination of which was to end up at Westminster by 4pm for the Haka... which we missed due to some moron calling in a bomb scare at Victoria station... and no Erin it wasn't an aussie!











We met some interesting characters along the way....

Kiwis are certainly patriotic.. full credit to them, they definitely go "hard out" (New Kiwi slang taught to us by Erin)

Naturally we ended up at the SheBu walkabout... where else was fitting enough!? And once we got a few snakie's into us and listened to Crowded House three times over, we managed to stumble across the only group of English guys in the entire place and well things went downhill from there really...






there was madness...

and debauchery....

And so ended a great day out! There was much suffering the next day but it was all worth it!!

Buh Bye Kellie Marie

Well, yesterday we waved goodbye to Kellie Marie, who's heading back to the Southern shores!


Its the end of an era and she'll be hitting you guys... today I think? Can never work out those time zones. Anyway she's bringing loads of hugs and kisses for everyone from us!!

It was really wierd to see one of us go home, it feels like the beginning of the end!!

So bye Kel, enjoy the sun and the sand and catching up with all your loved ones! We'll be seeing you soon!


Coming soon:
Australia Day, Dublin and Waitangi Day.

Poland

This weekend saw the return of layers upon layers of thermals and the return of the face muff. I went to Poland and actually managed to survive in -15 degree temperatures.

It was COLD people, worse then even Berlin, but it was fun.

We stayed in Warsaw and drank much Polish vodka and beer. We even managed to get a mulled beer in this piano bar we went to. You literally have to be inside drinking all the time because you can't survive out in the cold for longer than ten minutes without having to go and thaw out somewhere. It was too cold to see much but we did go through the old town, watch some people skiing in to a car park and generally marvel at buildings and churches despite having no idea what they were!

This is approaching the Old Town, tis a little snowy.

this is me, Elliot, Bec and Christine at the Piano bar.

We also went on to this underground Polish hip hop bar, which was pretty cool. Couldn't understand a thing that they were rapping about, and there was a particularly scary man in an anorak that just would not go away, but it was an experience.

Here is El, Shtine, me and Ekul in the hip hop club.

Then we went on to a casino, which was just gold, it was free drinks all night and it was empty. I got to gamble and win big on the pokies and the roulette table and felt really bling coz I was putting down massive bets, only to be reminded later that in fact it was massive bets in Polish money, which is actually equivalent to about 50 pence.

Still fun though.

That in a nutshell was my weekend in Poland, freezing fun and debaucherous. I came away with a funny looking wine glass and a new ashtray as location souvenirs and was happy! More photos will be up on the bugbitten site as soon as I can manage it!

On a different note, I finally found my adidas boots!! But they only sell them in America, and I could just positively cry about it. I still haven't given up mind you.

To close off here is another photo from Barcelona from New years eve shenanigans. I have chosen to close with this for two reasons, one because it is just such an ace picture. Two because Caz is displaying yet another classic blue steel, and I just know that magnum, one day, is going to blow us all away!

Groupies

I want to be one.

we made meatballs and minestrone last night from scratch, was yummo!

Don't ever watch 'War of the Worlds'.. its two hours of your life you will NEVER GET BACK!! You have been warned, it may also result in some sort of permanent neurological damage from the sheer pointlessness of it all.

Everywhere you go in London at the moment, there appears to be lone gloves that have been dropped or left. This means there are many many friendless gloves throughout the London area as we speak... what is this phenomena all about??

I am in a deep state of mourning, somewhere in Europe there is a girl wearing a pair of brown adidas boxing boots that I desperately want and cannot find in London ANYWHERE!

Puffball skirts rock

Adios

Something of a Quandry

So I have set myself a rough date for coming home and I have decided that it will be in April or May of this year. At this stage I don't think I am going to stay here for the summer.

And I am so so looking forwards to coming home, I cannot wait to be in Perth again and spoil myself with all the things I can't have over here.

But I'm already starting to freak out about leaving London. I love my lifestyle over here so much. Its a strange thing to want to be in two places at the same time for completely different reasons.

Its the right time to come home and I know that, but I'm so used to my life here.

So I find myself in something of a quandry.

On Monday night for example I went out for an Indian with a group of friends I have met whilst over here and at the end of the night, I was out the back, freezing my arse off, drinking room temparature champagne from the bottle and talking absolute nonsense.

Whilst I agree its not the right way to start my week, who will partake in such pointless debauchery with me when I get back to Perth???

Who I ask you!?!?!?

Berlin and Barcelona!

After Christmas was well and truly done, on the 28th, Kel, Carrie and I flew out to Berlin to start our winter trip! It was cold when we left London and there were rumours of snow, but when we arrived in Berlin, it was freezing, and I mean really truly cold. It was already covered in snow and the daytime temp was roughly minus 5.
We thought it was brilliant to start with and frolicked while we looked for the hostel, which turned out to be easily the best Hostel any of us have ever stayed at! City Stay in Berlin, we salute you and your clean rooms, funky bar and spacious showers.

So on day one we went out for a wander and I got us lost and Caz recovered us and we froze, literally I froze. In the end I did a Carrie "its too late for me... go on without me, save yourselves"

I think it only fair to point out that before we left London I had mocked Carrie and Kellie for taking thermal underclothes and tights with them, saying 'c'mon guys don't be such wusses'. Within an hour and a half of walking around in the snow, I was whimpering and whining so badly that Carrie gave me her long johns to wear! It was cold man. Anyway once I had on, a pair of tights, longjohns, jeans, boots, two tops, a wooly cardi and my black coat, scarf gloves and hat on, it was bearable enough to go out exploring some more!

We went out to a Sushi and cocktail bar (possibly the best combination in the world??) and then went on to a beer hall, the oldest one in Berlin I think and had us some steins!

And outside in the beer hall, frolicking again!!

The next day we went out on a FOUR hour WALKING tour. Yes yes we clearly are mad, and it was even colder and this time the snow was really coming down. Unfortunately I don't have any satisfactory photos of how much we became like snowmen on that day, but we really really did. I even managed to make a 'face muff' and I'll post those photo's another day!

But we got to see loads of stuff, The Berlin wall, all the museums, Reichstag, SS headquarters, holocaust memorial, checkpoint Charlie and Hitlers bunker off the top of my head. It was well worth the Siberian type temperatures!

That night we did a pub crawl round East Berlin, and went to about four bars and one club that we would never have otherwise found! And yes we did all fall down in the snow by about pub three, but it was all good by that point! I love Berlin, I think its a beautiful city with loads to offer and very new and happening. The people there were lovely as well. But you know what bloody Australians everywhere. I swear anywhere you go in the world there we are, its like an invasion!

Onwards to Barcelona!! (This must be said very quickly and with a small lisp)

Loved Barcelona and had a fantastic time there. We flew in on the 30th and got ourselves in, to a very very average hostel with possibly the worst showers ever (If you discount showers that don't actually work)! However we were in the middle of everything and we had an absolute ball. The first night we went out to a little square and had dinner with gigantic beers and I had Paella that would later on make me sick as a dog. But it was worth it at the time!

Is it just me or does it always seem to be about the beer?

Anyway the next day Bench turned up and we did a mammoth day of sightseeing, which was great fun, and I was pleasantly surprised coz there is so much to see and do in Barcelona, we could have easily done it over a few days.

So here are a few of our sightseeing pics over the days that we were there;

Rach and Carrie biggin it up near the Olympic stadium

Us at Parc Guell

Then for New years we managed to get ourselves in to a restaurant and had a fantastic hundred course meal, we had champers, red wine, white wine and olives and then scallops and lobster and Skate and Filet steak and chocolate cake and grapes and this wierd sour thingy that freaked Rachel out! we had a great meal and saw in the New Year at the restaurant, then we witnessed someone propose which was just so romantic. Then we went on to a cave like bar and generally had ourselves a great night. No pictures of that evening as I don't trust myself out with a camera still.

I could go on, but I'm getting bored now. We had a great time and much fun. There was too much sangria taken, too many zoolander quotes *I'm so tired! No Todd!* A lot of Tapas and a man called Sancho (not his actual name)

So here are two of my fave pics to sum up the holiday to leave you with

"I am Sancho!"

We're still not sure what this was bout in hindsight but it just great! I give you Cazza Shazza wazza!

Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you all had a great time. To see the rest of the pictures from the holidays go to www.bugbitten.com/JennKelly

XXXXXXXX

Christmas 2005

Happy New Year everyone!

We're now back from our holidays and first of all its time to recount Christmas 2005 which was a fantastic day hosted by Carrie and I!!

We had Rach and Kel round and Christmas Eve we went Ice skating in Hampstead which was brilliant fun as part of our Chrissie present from Kel.

You'll be happy to know that there were no broken bones as a result of this outing! Before we left Rach was quite worried that she may have a fall and spend yet more time in the emergency room. As a result we had a conversation that went like this:

Rach: Oh god I'm going to break something.

Carrie: Haven't you ever skated before then Rach??

Rach: Uhh no.

* A distinctly evil laugh can be heard coming from Carrie's bedroom, followed by Rachel and I giggling in my room*

Carrie: Oh. Could you hear my evil laugh? *sounding disappointed*

Then that evening we got into the preparations for Christmas and had a couple of bottles of wine to help us along the way. That night we left out some chocolates and milk for Santa, and we have exclusive footage of him in the act of eating it....

He does appear to have been on a diet though..

We had our stockings and then a champagne brekkie and then got stuck into the presents under our mini, wonky tree.

We were all thoroughly thoroughly spoilt and Santa was very very good to us all!

Once we'd demolished all the pressies, Carrie and I put on our non-existent aprons and got into cooking the Christmas dinner, and I have to say we did an absolutely magnificent job. Those of you who remember my cooking (or lack thereof) should be suitably impressed by just how great a job we did. Nobody was poisoned and we managed to stuff and cook the Turkey right through!

We had, turkey and stuffing, Roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, parsnips, pumpkin, broccoli, beans, peas and carrots. We had gravy and cranberry sauce and pigs in blankets , vol au vents. Naturally we ate hardly any of it and had a fridge crammed with left overs.

We had an all round brilliant day, drank way too much ate way too much got spoilt, and then played cards and sang karaoke in the evening, and it was a great Christmas!

Then we flew out to Berlin and Barcelona to see in the New Year!