Rihanna- An impressive concert

I had been to concerts on my own before. The first time was abroad, I was visiting NY (my first trip outside of Australia) and decided to see a gig whilst I was there. Lucky for me one of my favourite artists of all time, Christina Aguilera, was playing nearby- nearby being a slight understatement as I had no idea that Long Island is considered almost a completely different state to NYC.

The experience of going alone was exhilerating and I thoroughly enjoyed letting my inhabitutions go. I danced and sung as crazy as I wanted.

Getting home was not so much fun, taxi's absolutely refused to go as far as NYC so my only option was to car lift with 6 other random girls (that had also attended the concert) to the nearby train station and wait on the platform at midnight for a train alone, scared and in a foreign country. Needless to say I will never forget that journey home for the rest of my life!!!!

The second time I went alone was to see Kylie Minogue at her first concert in Sydney after her remission from breast cancer. There was no way I was going to miss this concert and lucky for me there was one seat available two rows from the front on opening night (my original tickets that I had held onto for two years were now valid for the second night of the tour, I had to see the first concert, as well as the second, fourth and sixth!!!) The concert was emotional, uplifting, fun and pure pop entertainment.

I was sat next to a lovely gay guy who was also alone and together we stalked down William Baker (Kylie's stylist) in the interval. I was so star struck when we approached him that the only thing I could say were how much I liked Kylie's leopard print boots that she wore in the show! Im sure I made a great impression as he excused himself thereafter!

I must also note in the second half of the show there was a moment were Kylie looked straight at me (my new gay friend even noticed) and that memory will forever be etched in my mind.

Anyway I digress, when I found out Rihanna was touring London there was no doubt in my mind that I had to go. I have loved her songs since her beginnings with Pon De Replay and I knew I wasn't going to be able to talk anyone into coming with me so I decided to go alone.

Once at the venue I was sat between an 'older' couple (they were in there late 50's and the gentleman sat with his hands over his ears for the entire concert) and two men who I couldn't decide if they were gay (they sang all the songs, got up to dance for their favourites and drank cider- i'll let you decide for yourself!)

The concert was a visual feast of inhibitions, sexual innuendos and war. Her sense of strength and determination was evident, her break up with Chris Brown has made her a fighter and this shows in the confident way she presents herself.

Her voice is solid and unique and her stage presence is mesmerising. Some of the hits transpired really well, I love when I fall for a song at a gig I previously didn't really think twice about, in this instance Take A Bow was the inspirational song for me and by the sound of the crowd for many other women in the UK.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I now consider her to be an artist with true raw talent. I cannot wait to see her grow and I am also excited about my next solo concert, im starting to think this is the the way forward to fully experience a gig!

Any concerts you have seen on your own?

x

My Birthday- London Celebrations- Jamie Oliver Restaurant + Jazz Club

It was a no brainer that for my birthday that I wanted to dine at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant. I have been following his work since I entered my early 20's and started learning to cook like a proper adult! Perfecting his risotto recipe has taught me the rewards of being patient when cooking but it has also provided me with a fail safe recipe to impress friends at dinner parties.

I love his passion for food and for his determination to make a difference around the world through cooking- for this reason he is my favourite chef.

Unfortunately I was late to my own birthday dinner, one thing you come to learn very quickly in London is how unreliable the public transport is, often tube lines are down, running late or just plain slow. On this particular occasion some idiot had left their bag on a tube sparking a security alert that it might be holding a bomb (this is one my favourite tube disruptions reasons, another is 'delays due to a person under a tube' I was shocked the first time I heard this announcement over the loud speaker, surely there is a more PC way of saying this!)

Not only was I and most of my guests late but one of my friends couldn't get to the restaurant for at least another hour so she had to cancel!

A glass of wine later and we were all in a better and jolly mood. Upon reviewing the menu we all decided to have the risotto for main, most of us ordered the seafood option and two others decided to try the vegetable option.

We ordered starter sizes and thank goodness we did as the portions were more than fair and very satisfying, I would like to say that my version of risotto is better but I think I would be foolish to make that claim!!! Either way our main meals were damn tasty!

As you are now aware I have a sweet tooth and so ordering dessert was a given. I chose the Jamie Oliver special brownie and I was not disappointed, hands down the best brownie I have ever had. Other guests had the panna cotta or an afagato, which had equal reports of deliciousness.

As you can imagine a famous restaurant like this was packed out and even though I called more than 6 weeks in advance the only time we could book dinner for was 6pm! Laughing at the fact that I was now 'older' we were out of the restaurant by 8.15pm (a time one usually goes out to dinner!) and so to keep the night going I had planned for us to go to after dinner drinks at a nearby restaurant/bar that we knew would have a jazz band playing.

Lena's is situated just near Old Street tube and the downstairs bar has a lovely cosy atmosphere and large couch/booth type areas for groups to sit in. This was a perfect setting for us to enjoy cocktails/proseco and enjoy classic jazz songs sung by an amateur jazz band.

After a night of heavy eating and drinking I was happy to head home at the stroke of midnight. I had a lovely birthday evening that I would do over again in a heart beat.

Any special birthday celebrations that you hold dear to your heart?

x

Getting my Shakespeare on

There are some things that are quintessentially British and I am under the impression Shakespeare is one of them.

I had already visited the Shakespeare’s Globe for a tour when my best friend came to visit me in London last year so I had already marveled at the age and the structure of the building. However since I arrived in London I have been keen to get the full experience and actually see a production.

Lucky for me this season there was a production of a show that I had heard of and was interested in seeing- A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

On the night we went it was not particularly warm in London (although at least it wasn’t raining!) and im guessing it was 8-10 degrees. However they cater for this by offering hot drinks and blankets to purchase. Nb/ for those of you who aren’t aware the Globe is completely open and has no roof on it.

The price of the tickets to see the shows vary but we chose to sit so we paid £20 but you can pay £5 and stand (like the peasants in the old days) in front of the stage for the duration of the almost 3 hour show. A lot of people did stand and the venue was sold out which is a huge indication of its ongoing popularity.

The show was quite a spectacle. I had quickly wiki’ed the story before I left work that day and I was glad I did! You do forget how complex the language is and how elaborate Shakespeare was with not only describing situations/feelings but also in the storylines he wrote. The way the script had been adapted was so great that you didn’t feel bogged down in the words and you could enjoy the occasional joke.

The actors were fantastic. They were so well trained to switch from one character to another that you almost forgot who was playing who. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the actress who played Puck was sensational, I was amazed with her acting skills, enthusiasm, dancing and singing skills.

I would definitely go back to watch another production and im sad I didn’t book in earlier so I could have seen some of the classics they had done in previous years- every other Londoner out there learn from my mistake!

This experience was a good reminder of how much I love the theatre and how talented some people are, definitely inspiring.

x

My Birthday- it was an eventful one

So in theory a birthday abroad is everyones dream: no work, sun, cocktails and total relaxation. I wouldnt exactly say my birthday went down like this!

Firstly we signed up to one day trip out of the resort which I saved for my birthday. I must note here that I am the type of person who always likes to be busy and occupied, to be honest this holiday was strange for me because I hardly ever let myself relax for more than 2 hours if that!

So for my special day we signed up to a trip out which included a river cruise, followed by some time at the Meditarian sea, Lunch on the cruise boat, a trip out to an 'amazing' waterfall and to conclude the day we would go to the famous markets.

The day started off well- although we did have to wake at 6am in order to be ready to leave at 8am! I commenced the day gorging myself on pancakes/pastries/turkish delight and after breakfast the sun came out from behind the clouds and it was hot.

It all went downhill from there, the bus was 20 mins late (precious sleeping time) the bus journey out to the cruise was tedious but a saving grace was the humour of our tour operator (quote: i dont get why people say airspace, it is just space no?).

In reality the fantastic sounding cruise was really boring. There was no scenery as the part of Turkey we were in was surrounded by desert looking land- everything was so vast. And the cruise felt like it went on forever.

Once we got to the beach we only had about 30 mins to hang out so not really enough time to lay out and enjoy it. Plus the beach itself was quite lack lustre compared to the beach near our resort.

Back on the boat lunch was very lame compared to the feasts we had been having at the resort. The salad and fish looked like it had sat out in the sun for quite a while!

After another 30 mins on the cruise boat back to the bus and an additional 20 mins on a bus we reached the amazing 'waterfall'. Im not sure you could call it a waterfall, really it was a stream of water, a river, it was so small it was ridiculous.

Lucky the markets were the savior of the day. It was very strange having to haggle prices of the goods. I had never haggled before and I disliked the whole process, I dont like to think I am ripping people off, but one must remember they are actually ripping you off! I managed to pick up a two lovely pashminas (one for me one for my mum for mothers day) and a nice fake designer handbag. My friend scored an amazing Louis Vittion nag that honestly looks real (I actually think its real leather!). I bought a less real looking Dolce and Gabbana bag that is simple but nice, black with lettering falling down the side- for the hefty price of 35 euros!!!!! And of course I had to purchase samples of Turkish Nougat to take home.

We had some time spare after shopping so i managed to sample a Turkish coffee which was super sweet and strong at the same time! My dream coffee (see attached photo!) To make it even better it was prepared by an old Turkish lady who took 10 mins to make it which meant that it was an authentic experience!

Back at the hotel my 'special' birthday dinner was lovely. We booked into the traditional Turkish restarant instead of the Italian one and the waiter had set up the table to look particularly romantic.

We had lentil soup to start, homous and other dips for seconds, spicy chicken and vegetables for main and then special birthday baklava for dessert.

After dinner we relaxed by the bar, finishing probably my 4th glass of wine and dragging my older body to bed at 10pm!

I must say at least it was an interesting birthday experience that I will remember for a long time to come!

x

Turkey- Part 2- The Resort

So I think it would be fitting for me to describe the hotel for which we would spend the next 6 out of 7 days laying about!

The resort was stunning and in a line of probably at least a dozen if not more other resorts- basically resort heaven.

First off it had a line of kid’s pools out the front which had waterslides, carousels and a wave pool- every kids fantasy!

Out the back there were a series of about 5 pools all intertwined but with different vibes to them, some were for laying about, others were for pool activities/dance music (honestly at times it felt like a euro trash nightclub!) and some were for families with little kids.

The pools were surrounded by bars and many many food stalls, all open at different points of the day. You had a selection of Donor Kebabs (the real ones not the greasy ones you pick up at 1am!), baked potatoes, ice cream, waffles, fruit and if that wasn’t enough you could wander up to the patisserie later on in the day to have your sugar fix!

The beach was a minute’s walk from the pools and it had its own bar and eating area. Not only that but it had an amazing wharf that had large pillows for people to lay on and sun bake- unfortunately we were never up early enough to nab one of these but they looked like the type of thing you wouldn’t be able to get yourself out of, like a bean bag!

Aside from the pools the hotel had a gym, bowling alley, doctor, well being centre, games room, hairdresser, aerobics/yoga area and two auditoriums for the musicals they put on in the evening (which we never made it to, too busy at the bar!)

There was one main bistro that all main meals were served at and 4 specialty restaurants that you were able to have one free meal at (we saved this for my birthday- more about that in a later post).

To say that we indulged at the bistro would be a MASSIVE understatement!

The food there was so diverse and there was so much to choose from. Every night they would have different themes, Fish night, International Night, Turkey night etc. Of course you can always spot the English people at these places as they migrate towards hot chips and fried chicken/fish instead of trying the yummy local delights!

In the mornings I always indulged in the specialist Turkish delight that was only served at this time period (this is my kind of place- sweets for breakfast)!

Lunchtimes were all about the Fish and multiple salads complimented with a vodka lemonade or beer.

Dinner was just a downright feast! One promise I made myself at the start of the trip was to totally indulge in the dessert buffet (sweet things are my favourite thing in the world!). Every night I would have at least 4 of the treats that were assembled on a giant table- see picture for an example. It was a tough nightly selection but a very enjoyable one!

After we had absolutely stuffed ourselves with food we would migrate up the stairs to one of the two main bars to partake in drinking many different and exotic cocktails that ranged in colour from bright orange to green to pink to blue. The Blue Angel (Proseco and blue curaco) ended up being my fav and for my friend a traditional Gin Fizz. Not only that but the local red wine served with dinner was just lovely!

Sad to say but I don’t think we saw a night past 10.30pm! After the eating, drinking and the sun we were totally pooped and it wasn’t really a party place but that’s what holidays are about right relaxing and enjoying life?

X

Turkey- part one- how I won the holiday!

So how did I come to win a holiday to Turkey...

In the aftermath of the Haiti disaster one of my fellow collegues sent an email around explaing how her friend's law firm who was putting together a raffle to raise funds to contribute to aid for the country. As some of you may know I work at a media agency and a lot of my co workers spoke to their clients to get together some exciting prizes to entice people to by tickets for the raffle. One of the clients was lastminute.com.

In our office we are lucky to have a drinks trolley that comes around on Friday afternoons at 4pm serving employees a collection of beers and wines as a thank you for their weeks work. Usually the drinks are free but when we are collecting money for charities sometimes we are asked to contribute a £1 or £2 for a drink.

On this particular Friday the contribution was a ticket for the above mentioned raffle. I was short on cash but really wanted a drink so i borrow £2 from my boss in order to purchase just one ticket and get a lovely glass of wine.

The following week was a bad one for me personally, I was having problems with my then boyfriend I was in a particularly foul mood when I opened the email with the list of ticket numbers that had won the prizes for the Haiti raffle.

Would you believe I won the main prize!!!!! The raffle wasnt even organised by my company but by a law firm that I still dont know the name of!!!!

The prize I won was an all inclusive holiday to Antalya, Turkey for 2 people. This included accomodation at the 5 star resort, Royal wings, Airport transfers, drinks, food, entertainment! In total I believe the holiday was worth roughly £2,000!

It was only fitting that I invited my flatmate who I had moved countries with to accompany me given everything we have been through in London I wanted to share this experience with her.

Sometimes I think great things happen in life to make up for the crappy things you go through, I think this was my karma and I was trully lucky to have won.

x

P.S A massive thank you to my boss for the £2 lend and yes I paid her the money back!

A little trip to Little Venice

On my last weekend in London before my free holiday it was sunny and warm, hooray! Lucky for us we had by chance arranged to have brunch at a new pop up restaurant in Maida Vale.

There are a lot of places that just pop up in London in the Summer months. I believe it’s to take advantage of the 'good' weather and people's desires to sit in the sun to eat/drink for hours or to eat ice cream which you wouldn’t dream of consuming for at least 9 months of the year! Nb/ there is a Gelato Mio opening near my house soon which claims to have a great vegemite ice cream- me thinks this will have to go on the List of something to try! Also I remembered the other night I have yet to put the consumption of traditional British Fish and Chips on the ‘List’ what a travesty!

Anyway back to brunch, the cafe was a branch of the Waterways restaurant and it was located on the edge of a beautiful canal that runs through little Venice. We had prime position table on the water’s edge to watch all the boats come past which was just delightful, this was the best bit of the meal.

The food was not really to be desired for, my friends pancakes were burnt and I must have had the smallest portion of yoghurt and granola that would be possible to charge £6 for. However I always love catching up with friends over brunch, I consider brunch one of my favourite catch up meal occasions as no one is in a hurray and people tend to be in really good moods (although on this particular day I had a cold so maybe I wasn't in the greatest of moods!).

Afterwards we took a stroll to check out Little Venice, the lake is beautiful and the houses that surround it are just HUGE. It really is a different posh part of London that one dreams about living in one day.

This is one area I am definitely keen to explore a little more!

Any areas of your home town that you have yet to discover?

x

A sunny weekend in London

There are those rare occasions in London where the weather reaches a desirable temperature that I don’t feel the need to wear 4 layers just to be reasonably content walking around.

On this particular weekend we experienced a glimpse of Summer (in light of the weather now this was a very cruel tease!) and I decided to make the most of it.

On the Saturday I started with a lovely walk from Clapham to Wandsworth to try another tasty coffee from a shop on the list, The Roastery -they had the biggest Brownie's I had ever seen! After a much needed hair cut I met some lovely friends of mine to just hang out in Clapham Common.

I must point out to my international readers that the minute the weather reaches anywhere near 20 degrees people get a little crazy with dressing or lack there of! I did literally see girls lying in the park in their bikinis!!!! Im not kidding and men with their shirts off. I was happy enough just sitting without a jacket and I still had on a long sleeve dress, a singlet top underneath and thick black tights on!

Everyone came out in force again on the Sunday in flip flops and flimsy summer dresses. I decided to use this opportunity to try another coffee place, this time at Ravenscourt Park in the quaintest cafe attached to Ginkgo gardens. I took my cappuccino as a take away and wandered around the local park, lucky for me there was a child's carnival on so I checked out the old school carousels and momentarily relived a little part of my youth- see attached photo.

I followed this by soaking up some more sunshine in Hyde Park with a dear workmate. The park was full to the brim of picnickers, more sun bathers and children playing in the sunshine. To say it brightened my mood for the next week is an understatement.

Now if London could only be sunny and warm more often!

x

A random saturday in London

I must admit there are things not on 'The List' that I have ambitions to do in London and one of them is to see as many exhibitions as I can to build on my recent interest in the cultural aspects of life. I also love to discover cute venues/shops/cafes that make London unique from other cities in the world.

On this particular sunny (yes I say sunny) Saturday in London I decided to venture out and see an exhibition I had read about in Harper's Bazaar.

The article had intrigued me as it described an artist who had put together a collection of work using her own human hair as a way of symbolising her feelings about the events in her childhood.

Firstly the exhibition was easy to miss as it was featured in a tiny hall in the middle of a busy pub and cafe in Soho- not your usual 3 blocks worth of gallery space! However once inside I found the exhibition mesmerising and disturbing at the same time.

As you can see from the picture she has cut and glued her hair together so many times over the years that it literally fills 3 flights of stairs.

In addition to this piece there were mutliple ornaments/sculptures that had more hair wound around it, a life like doll created in her image and a strange movie about a little girl who turns into a porcelian doll. I would like to consider myself as a cultural person but this was a little far out for me.

After the exhibition I continued to wander around Soho and I stumbled upon one of the greatest shops I have been into in London. A vintage magazine store!!!!! As I mentioned yesterday I love Kylie and have tried to collect every magazine she has featured in for the past 10 years. This shop was heaven and has magazines from the 1950's right through to the 2000's. Magazines instore include Vogue, Playboy, Rolling Stone etc, you name it, they have it! I had to leave quickly before I spent a weeks wage on magazines.

This was a trully unique and interesting day in London and it showed me one of the reasons why I wanted to move here in the first place!

This lovely adventure was topped off with a trip to Notting Hill on the Sunday for another tasty coffee at the Coffee Plant (note this place attracts model/arty/cool types of people) and an afternoon of red wine whilst watching Sex and the City- what better way to enjoy a lazy weekend!

x

Eventful Weekend: Part 3- Kylie's House

Im back from Sunny Turkey but more on that in a later post - I must complete the story of the very eventful Easter long weekend.

Despite stumbling home at 5am on Easter Monday (who knew I still had it in me!) I was so excited about the coming day’s event that I wasn’t able to sleep in.

My lovely flatmate very kindly obliged in accompanying me on my journey to discover my idols house.

I must make a note here, I am a MASSIVE Kylie fan. I have loved her my whole life and have grown up with her. People ask me all the time what is the appeal and my response what isn’t? She is beautiful, inside and out, determined, sexy, sweet, accomplished, talented, strong and fun. She makes my life happy and her music speaks to my heart.

After a quick bus ride (yes there is a bus directly from my house to hers) we reached the street that I had been informed was hers.

I knew the house number from all the paparazzi photos I have seen of her leaving home so I knew which one it was the minute I saw it.

This was one of the most surreal experiences of my life, I had spent so much time when I arrived in London trawling the streets of West London looking for her abode and I had literally given up any hope.

See the photo for my very happy and smiley face.

Do you have an idol that you absolutely adore? Would you visit their house if you could?

x

Turkey- Part 3- Fun memories and goodbye Ladies

As a concluding post for my holiday I thought it would be fitting to describe a few things that my friend and I felt summed up the trip and our memories.

I must start with the other hotel guests as there seemed to be a pre requisite as to whether you qualified to stay.

Firstly you had to have a tattoo, preferably a rather large one of your child’s name, some fantasy figure or some Celtic sign. This tattoo had to appear down one leg, arm or across your back or the best ones were all over your body!

Secondly the majority of the guests were German and a part of a family or in an older couple.

Thirdly you had to have sun burn and not just a little but a lot, the redder the better!!! (I can confidently say I did not succumb to burning my body, unfortunately my friend did, but just a little)

Lastly there was a vide variety of just bad looks/outfit choices, there were many mullets, white leggings and loads of tacky Europeans clothing- you name anything bogan/chavvy it was there.

The next point I must make is about the hotel staff and I will say they were an eager bunch. They were all young people who clearly enjoyed the sun and doing loads of physical activities. We were constantly harassed to do aerobics/water polo/darts etc. They loved us I think because we were the youngest people in there who weren’t under the age of 12! Special note to my favourite lady who had a gold tooth and liked to conduct aerobics classes wrapped in cling wrap!

Another thing that provided us with many moments of enjoyment was hotel staff trying to get people to do really cheesy photo shoots- it was super funny some of the poses they got people to do. They had couples kissing for the camera, children looking out to the ocean hugging and one girl seductively submerged in the hotel pool.

The thing I loved the most about Turkey was that everyone referred to us as ‘ladies’ everywhere we went it was the opening line. Also we kept getting asked if we were sisters nb/ my friend has Italian heritage and dark hair and I am clearly pasty and blonde- we do not look alike!

The not so nice thing about Turkey is that the water has manure in it (gross!) and on the first day I woke up with an infected eye (to be fair that could have been caused by something else but it is odd). The other gross thing about Turkey is that they don’t have a good irrigation system so you were supposed to wipe yourself and place the toilet paper in the bin next to the toilet, needless to say and I refused to do this, it just doesn’t feel right!

Back to the fun memories, almost all the alcoholic drinks we ordered came with plastic figurines and sometimes straws with glitter hanging off it, we tried to collect as many as these as possible- see photo evidence. Aat last count I think we had over 20! This is a small sign of how much we drunk!.

We watched many trashy Euro pop videos on repeat as the music channels were the only channels (aside from the news) that were in English (the song hot by Inna now totally reminds me of Turkey).

Finally I want to make a shout out to one special male guest who wore the shirt 'do you have MSN because I am a hotmale' hahahahaha

Ive got to say it wasn’t really until the second last day of the holiday that I was totally relaxed and it was so hard to leave that feeling and come back to dreary cold London. Turkey wasn’t a place I would have picked for a holiday but I’m so glad I got the opportunity to go.

I want to thank my friend for making this such a great holiday. Spending a week with someone makes you appreciate a friendship and someone's ability to put up with your crap! I am so lucky to call this very special lady my friend

Looking forward to the next holiday…

x