Author: karan

Rie Fu had posted info about this gig on her blog and I was finally in London! So I found myself trekking through the rain from Turnpike Lane tube station to a tiny little restaurant-cum-bar called Viva Viva in Hornsey, in north London.

The venue initially looked promising, but those without a reserved table were unceremoniously shoved to the back, away from the stage. I looked to the back and… oh my god, there she is, there she is, what do I say what do I do don’t be a fanboy! just be cool… but she’s right there!

She was short. Shorter than I imagined, in any case, though probably close to average for Japanese, and she looked a lot prettier in the flesh (which I know sounds like a quasi-insult, but it really was striking how much prettier she looked). I did my usual awkward-shy thing and just dodged the whole issue by sitting down and ordering a drink. A good strong one.

There were some other acts on before “the main event” in my mind, and while they were of a similar genre, they were nothing compared to Rie Fu. By the time Rie took the stage, quite a crowd had gathered – some of whom seemed to know Rie through her university, and a lot of Japanese (presumably friends). The venue clearly wasn’t up to the job, and while there weren’t any arguments it was a tight in there for sure. Rie mentioned at the opening of her set that this was one of the first venues she played at years ago when she was just starting out, and that this would be her last gig in London before moving back to Japan to pursue the career whole-heartedly.

I was enraptured. I was seeing Rie Fu! For real! Probably my last chance at that! and she was no more than 10 feet away! And in 4 songs, it was all over. Man, all that build up!

Afterwards, I went and asked for a photo. In my head, it was going to go something like this:

Me: Sumimasen, Rie-san, hitotsu shashin totte mo ii desu ka? (Casual sounding, “Excuse me, Rie-san, would it be alright if I took a photo (with you)?”)

Rie Fu: Ah, hai, ii desu yo. (“Ah yeah, sure”)

But really, it went like this:

Me: Ano, Sumimasen, Rie-san, hitotsu…. foto… ? (Nervous sounding, “Um, pardon me, Rie-san, one… foto…?”)

Rie Fu: (shocked at the Japanese) Ah, yeah… un.. (“yeah..”)

So not exactly to plan. But I got the photo!

And when I walked home, I was singing all the way =D Now if only I could (a) be less shy and (b) get my Japanese from my head to my tongue properly.

(a couple more photos here)

It just wouldn’t be London, even in summer, unless the skies were grey and the rain was a constant threat, right? That’s been true nearly every day now, with the only concession to summer being patches of sun that do appear in between.

Motor Expo

Hot, hot cars. This was no ordinary motor show – the clear point here was to show off cars worth their salt, and if Sir had his chequebook or Amex Black on hand, Sir could purchase too. Test drives could also be arranged with personal pick up.

It wasn’t the London Motor Show – that’s the usual type held inside a giant exhibition hall. The Motor Expo was much more geared to selling the goods, from the average punter to the high-flying exec (any wonder it was in the new financial zone?)

Cars were scattered around Canary Wharf, the most modern part of London’s CBD by far. And on offer was no less than the McMerc, and … well nigh on any car you wished to get your hands on. Alfa had their 8C out, not to mention the Spider. Audi’s R8 is a thing of beauty, on par with Aston’s offerings.

Land Rover also made a strong impression, showing off some 4WD abilities on a little course they had set up to demonstrate their offerings. I can appreciate the technical merit of the 4WDs, and at least Land Rover don’t only pretend their cars are for the off-road. (unlike GM/Vauxhall, who advertised a “SUV” with the tagline “Explore the limits of the urban jungle.” Slogans (and cars) that stupid should be banned.

The funniest thing was seeing all the boys drooling over the cars, and the exasperated women wandering around behind them, as if taking care of toddlers in a candy shop :) (more photos here)

Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot is roughly the equivalent of the Racing Carnival in Melbourne, except it happens at one place, Ascot, over four days, and gets the “Royal” tag thanks to the attendance of the Queen and her family. As you might imagine, the fashions are even more upmarket, with roughly half the crowd heading there in top hat & tails.

In most other ways though, it’s the same as the racing carnival in Melbourne. Long stretches of empty time mostly filled with drinking your choice of poison and chit-chat, with a break every 40 minutes or so when a bunch of short men in gaudy silk shirts hurtle down a stretch of perfectly maintained lawn on the backs of animals that, on the balance of it, would probably rather not be there with the men on their back, if indeed at all. Meanwhile the audience puts money on who will win, mostly based on an average of past form that has no bearing what so ever on the race today, and in any case half are amateurs with too much money who are just making pot shots in the dark.

Can you tell I’m a bit of a racing cynic? Or that I didn’t win any money? :) Not a single favourite won, or indeed placed, which goes to show how pointless the whole exercise is. “Lady Luck” doesn’t have half the role she would normally because there is a non-random factor in there, but it’s far more variable than most sports would consider normal. Suffice to say, I really did fail to see the point.

It was none the less a fun day out with a few friends :) (more photos here)

Ok quick update of what I’ve been up to the last week:

• Working (naturally)
• London Motor Expo (more later probably, with photos)
• Wandering the West End (I was looking for a gallery – found it, couldn’t find the entry =S)
• House-hunt researching
• Drinking (only occasionally but more than Sydney) (pints are tough to get through)
• Setting myself up here (phone, bank, etc)
• Finding my way around (Until last week I’d get north & south wrong because of being in the wrong hemisphere)
• Trying everything on the menu, day by day, at Wrap It Up (because it’s the closest I get to a cheap decent lunch)

The upcoming week:

• Royal Ascot races (what to wear?!)
• Rie fu gig
• House-hunt progressing – relocation agent taking me to places (avoiding being in at work when our Biggest Release Ever goes in)
• Farewelling my London boss (yeah that’s quick even for me)
• Maybe meeting some people for flat share
• Maybe meeting friend-of-a-family-friend who lives here
• Um. That’s not bad so far for the week ahead right?

So, off to the races tomorrow! :)

So, total lack of posting, despite landing up in one of the biggest cities in the world. Hmmmmm.

But then, the compulsion to blog has disappeared a little while I discover the place for myself. Also, the hour that I previously had in the morning to get to work is gone, removing a significant source of contemplation time which was the source of so much laboured inspiration. On the other hand, sleeping in till 7:30 and still turning up at work at 8:30 isn’t too bad a deal :D (my internal clock no longer wakes me at 4:30 in the morning! yay!)

Been out and about doing all manner of things that I wouldn’t do in Sydney because I’d have had to find my way home late at night on the train (and avoid sleeping through to the last stop on the line). I like the London grads – they’re so ready to go out and have some fun =D Man, Sydney guys, pull your game up! Also loving the summer, even if it’s a half-arsed one by Aussie standards. Light till 9:30 and reasonable spring-ish weather gets anyone’s spirits up, right? =) In some ways this place reminds me of Melbourne, but the difference remains pretty fundamental.

Everyone sounds so “posh” here. I know, I know, there’s the unposh English accents, but I’ve already found myself mimicing the English accent here and there, and “half-eight” is so much more tempting to say than “eight-thirty” – it just sounds less prosaic. Pints are hard to get through though, and these guys clearly have a capacity that far surpasses mine – I’m letting down the hard-drinking Aussie rep. Sorry guys =(

Beyond that, still really trying to find my role here to settle into. At the moment, I remain a representative for the guys in Sydney more than anything, but there’s subtle pushes to doing more valueable stuff (in the sense that I’m not just arguing with the BA team), all the while hoping to avoid paralysis-by-analysis.

Um. I guess that’s the sum of it for now. Hopefully posting more frequently again =)

And the sky is…. (drumroll please)… grey as can be expected. yay.

There’s people wandering around on t-shirt and shorts. It’s about 16 degrees in the morning, with midday getting up to low twenties.  Summer? bah, I’ll believe it when I see blue skies and truly warm weather. This is like what it was about 3 weeks ago in Sydney, and that was late autumn.

I’m at 8 India St, apartment 12 (feel free to mail me! :D). It’s a studio, well kitted and about 10 min walk from work, which ain’t too bad. I just wish the sound insulation was better.

I woke up at about 6 this morning (if anything, before that, but that’s when I looked at the clock.) I’m not too far off getting into the right timezone, and yes, the business flight does help – I got at least 6 hours of sleep out of a 22 hour flight, so that’s gotta be worth something. Of course, I slept for about 8 hours yesterday too, and then 6 hours or so last night, so I think… I’m catching up some major sleep debt somewhere.

Anywho, to work!