Bev here again: Ahhhhh…..day 3 and 4 how not very interesting. We pretty much spent both days not doing much. Just attempting to get jobs really. We did go for a walk to the nearby area of Parsons Green. It was posh, you could tell by the amount of real estate shops there were about half a dozen. Apparently that’s a good indication of a nice expensive area; lots of real estate shops. And on the other end of the scale is fried chicken shops. We’ve been recommended to stay away from the area with lots of fried chicken shops…..mmm fried chicken :) But I love fried chicken!
We had a quick look at some of the places for sale. If you think Auckland was bad, this place will blow your socks off, absolute daylight-white collar-whatever you wish to call it-robbery; £1.5m (about $4.3m NZ) gets you not much more than a poshly decorated letterbox with a garden barely worth owning a lawn mower for. A few nice porches driving around this area though.
We decided to also look at a few places to rent. Again, if you think Auckland was bad, this place just stuns you. We’re average Kiwi’s looking to pay about £120-150 per week, how about renting a place for £2400 PER WEEK! That’s right, that’s about $7000NZ PER WEEK!……Even $2400NZ is crazy money. Our looking at a few places bubble got the pop, big time, when we discovered that agents ask for a fee of about £70 ($200NZ) just to show you the place! No wonder people say accommodation is expensive in London!
I’ve noticed that personal space seems interesting, especially when walking down the street. You’ve got to be careful not to suddenly stop, otherwise you might get mowed down by the little old man walking his dog too close to you. The number of mums and prams walking around during the day is unreal, and getting mowed down by one is easy, especially when I’ve stopped to look into a shop window. I guess it’s because of the narrow width of the footpaths.
The amount of noise pollution is a worry. I generally rely on my ears to cross the roads at home (kids take note – do as I say, not as I do. Id be history when NZ introduces silent electric cars), but here there is so much going on, you HAVE to look both ways a few times.
We had a quick look at some of the places for sale. If you think Auckland was bad, this place will blow your socks off, absolute daylight-white collar-whatever you wish to call it-robbery; £1.5m (about $4.3m NZ) gets you not much more than a poshly decorated letterbox with a garden barely worth owning a lawn mower for. A few nice porches driving around this area though.
We decided to also look at a few places to rent. Again, if you think Auckland was bad, this place just stuns you. We’re average Kiwi’s looking to pay about £120-150 per week, how about renting a place for £2400 PER WEEK! That’s right, that’s about $7000NZ PER WEEK!……Even $2400NZ is crazy money. Our looking at a few places bubble got the pop, big time, when we discovered that agents ask for a fee of about £70 ($200NZ) just to show you the place! No wonder people say accommodation is expensive in London!
I’ve noticed that personal space seems interesting, especially when walking down the street. You’ve got to be careful not to suddenly stop, otherwise you might get mowed down by the little old man walking his dog too close to you. The number of mums and prams walking around during the day is unreal, and getting mowed down by one is easy, especially when I’ve stopped to look into a shop window. I guess it’s because of the narrow width of the footpaths.
The amount of noise pollution is a worry. I generally rely on my ears to cross the roads at home (kids take note – do as I say, not as I do. Id be history when NZ introduces silent electric cars), but here there is so much going on, you HAVE to look both ways a few times.
Just sitting in the lounge, you hear a lot of emergency service sirens going off throughout the day. I can honestly say I’ve heard sirens go by half a dozen to a dozen times each day. Heathrow is not that far away. You can hear a plane taking off/landing every 2 minutes.
I’d hate to be a retail sales person here. In 3 trips to the local shop we’ve so far seen a lady pack a wobbly at a manager for no apparent reason (maybe just letting off steam because she had a bad day), customers being rude to staff, comment and borderline racist comments to staff.
I bought a USB pendrive from the local computer shop, it was £5.96, and I gave him £6. He said in a timid voice: ‘Im sorry I don’t have any change of 4p, but you can come back later for it’. It was like he was expecting to be burnt for not being able to give me 4 cents! I do feel sorry for the crap they have to put up with.
Marketers on the side of the street trying to hand things to you or get you to sign something is really annoying. Not only is there a lot of them, but if you make the slightest eye contact, some will ram a bit of paper at you. Jam got pulled up by a phone line selling guy, and he jumped out in front of her with an ‘excuse me, BEFORE you run away, do you own a landline?’. She fended him off with an ‘I’ve just arrived from NZ’ card. He backed off quickly.
Ah….the big city…much different from small farms :o)
Heres some late photos:
from Day 1: central London. Picadilly Circus near Soho
mmmm KFC with mashed pota....baked beans???
Yes we got bored searching for jobs, so we had to complete our gingerbread wo/men....Nice handle bar mo
Our couzzie Dee munching on her creation
2 comments:
Hey guys glad u made it to London in one piece, can't wait for more "wild" updates... supermarkets and real estate thats extreeeeeeeme. Glad u guys are having fun and good luck on the job hunting.
p.s. Bev if u must get run over make sure its sumone with a Bentley.
Hi Guys
Cannot wait until you get to see the inside of an M&S foodhall. Another tip when crossing the road is to look out for the Volvo drivers (they think they are invincible!).
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