Time Starts to Slip Away... Goodbye to Portsmouth & Central London and Adventures at Hampton Court

I somehow found myself in my final weeks in Portsmouth, the last three months have flown by at a ridiculous pace. Not too much happened apart from trying to see everyone as much as possible, numerous nights out, lunches etc. I finished work on the 19th November at 11pm with a couple other people so we decided to stay for drinks and naturally ended up staying until close. Sunday was my last proper day as Monday was for packing so Jimmy held a BBQ at his house and invited everyone over, including the Yates's boys and we drank, ate and enjoyed each other's company before hitting Guild Hall to drink at the Lyberry one final time. Monday I just packed and did washing, Tuesday I made my goodbyes as quick as possible as I didn't want to get too sad about leaving, which I was, and Vinnie walked me to the train station around ten so I could go and meet Kirsty in Guildford for ten thirty. I am really sad to be leaving Portsmouth, I had such a fun time there and will miss everyone a lot, especially the ones I, in reality, probably won't see again. However Vinnie and Kerri are planning to visit in the next year and Sarg is moving to New Zealand so hopefully it's just see you later and not good bye to a few of them.

I met Kirsty at Guildford around eleven and we then drove to Hampton Court, the royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, which was built in the 16th Century. I've always liked English Royal history and in particular the history of Henry VIII and his wives so going to Hampton Court, King Henry's home during his reign was really exciting for me. After meeting up with Elspeth and having a quick lunch we set off to explore the different sections of the Palace, half Tudor from Henry VIII's time and part Baroque from King William III's changes a century later. Firstly we looked around King Henry VIII's apartments and then his kitchens, then we moved to the Baroque sections of the palace and learnt about the rooms in which King William III resided during his reign, and then explored the gardens. We used the audio guides to learn about each room and I definitely learnt a lot, I especially enjoyed learning about the lives and infamous fates of all Henry's wives, especially Catherine Howard who's ghost is said to be seeing running through the grand hall screaming and begging for forgiveness...creepy or what! It was hard imagining these people, including such a monstrous tyrant such as Henry walking through the rooms we found ourselves in but it was clever how they designed the audio guides to talk you through exactly what would be happening in each room as if you were there when the palaces were inhabited by the different Kings and the King's people.

We then headed back to Elspeth's place for dinner and had a relaxing evening before saying goodbye to Kirsty. Wednesday was also really chilled out, we went shopping and had dinner at a curry house in town which was really nice. Thursday I said goodbye to Elspeth and set off for Old Street to meet up with Joe, a friend we'd met originally in Miami but had caught up with over the year. Old Street was a really trendy area, a little jealous of his location! We had tickets to go see Friendly Fires play in Brixton but first we decided to go and take a look at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. Let's just say there's nothing like a chilly winter evening in Hyde Park lit up like day with lights, atmosphere and bars on carousels to celebrate and get into the spirit of Christmas. I love having New Years during summer but I always miss a white Christmas. While it wasn't exactly a snowy night, it was still nice to celebrate part of this years Festive Season in London. It was kind of a mixture between a cold Oktoberfest..with definite German influence with the stalls of food and drink, a town fair with the rides and then of course the ice rink in the middle which, honestly, became a big source of entertainment due to the number of people who perhaps were skating, or should i say bum sliding and falling over, everywhere around the rink. The carousel turned into a bar was a definite highlight for us! Got a bit dizzy though :)

After exploring the colourfully lit Christmas labrynth we then caught the underground to Brixton. Arriving at the arena we were immediately stopped and interviewed by camera about why we were there, what music we liked etc. Joe did really well, I unfortunately being pretty uneducated when it comes to Friendly Fires looked like a bit of a, [insert rude word here] but managed my way through without embarrassing myself too much then we headed into the arena. The concert itself was outrageously fun, I realised I did know a few of their songs and the ones I didn't know I liked. The lead singer Ed Macfarlane was an amazing performer, I have to admit I fell a little bit in love.

Leaving on a high we decided it would be best to get back to Old Street before the underground stopped at eleven thirty and hit some bars there. Old Street was a pretty trendy area and we didn't have any trouble finding somewhere fun to drink. We tried a cocktail bar/pub first and got into some creative shots, some swing dancing, hilarious people watching and some good old conversational banter. Next we went to this club, Mother Bar, that had no windows and from the outside looked like a creepy giant black box but inside was like a trendy, grungy lounge bar. I think we got home around four, so good effort by us, was definitely a great night to end my London experiences for 2011 with!


On Friday I battled a little bit to get to Jackie's due to deciding it was a really good idea to try and tackle the London Underground at peak hour, a hangover and a massive suitcase. People are very good at showing how unimpressed they were, on the last leg of the journey - the train from Victoria to Shortlands, I ended up having to make an apology announcement because it seemed I'd pissed off most of my surrounding fellow travellers. My last days abroad were to be spent in Shortlands with Jackie and Lucy. Although Friday night was very quiet, Saturday was action packed as we attended a Crystal Palace verses Millwall football match. The experience was so memorable I've decided to dedicate a separate blog just for the event. So stay tuned!

The Last Tuesday Society's 'Danse Macabre' Halloween Ball

One word, incredible. This was possibly one of the best nights I have had this whole year and definitely the best Halloween by a mile! The Last Tuesday Society are a London based company that hold a huge Halloween Ball every year among a number of other events such as masquerades and supernatural and gothic themed lectures, plays, parties etc. This year the Halloween Ball was called 'Danse Macabre' and the theme was 'the beautiful and the damned.' Jimmy had been the year before so we got tickets again and drove up to London from Portsmouth after work and went to Jimmy's friends Joel and Russell's house to have pre-drinks and get ready.



It was a rather long process to get ready. Jimmy, Russell and Joel went with the scary clown theme, Dave went as a vampire, Dillan just wore a nighty that was supposed to be the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood but he didn't wear the mask he just wore the creepy hands and a purple wig, and I went with a classic - the zombie bride. Jimmy bought one of those professional movie quality clown masks that you glue to your face and then paint and had a ring leader outfit and massive clown shoes. He looked amazing, it was weird cause it was Jimmy but when he talked the mask moved like it was his face so it wasn't Jimmy at the same time, just a really scary clown that will give me nightmares. My make-up took quite a while. I had to cover myself in white powder so I looked really pale, then I used purple eyeshadow to put dark patches under my eyes and also used it as blush to make my cheeks look sunken in. Then I did really dark eyes and fake eye lashes, black lipstick and of course fake blood which a put under my eye and all over my neck. Note to self: Next time you apply fake blood, use gloves, that stuff does not come off easily! I then put on my dress, veil, socks and heels, put a bit more fake blood over my arms, grabbed my black rose and was ready to go!

Around ten thirty we got taxi's to the venue in Elephant and Castle. While we were lining up all these French tourists wanted photos with us so we took a few but were pretty eager to get inside and see what it was like. I was absolutely blown away by how extravagant this place was. There was a symphony playing on the stage and everyone was waltzing around the dance floor in eighteenth century gowns, wigs and masquerade masks. It looked like a scene out of a grand Dracula movie. There were naked people covered in blood wandering around feeding people grapes and dancing in cages. I had something thrown at my head on the dance floor, so I picked it up and realised it was a real dead chicken. Still warm. Jimmy then proceeded to carry it around for a while, and then we saw that there were also dead chickens hanging from the walls in all the hallways. Creepy. Dave found himself in a sort of bondage themed room and got tied up by his arms, then people took his wallet and phone etc and left there to fend for himself. There were circus performers doing aerial acrobatics from material hanging from the ceiling to the floor, all wearing Harlequin masks, performing to this eerie symphony music that had everyone in a trance. The whole dance floor went still and silent, all just watching the dancers falling from the ceiling. As well as this a number of different gothic/halloween themed bands played throughout the night including a definite favourite - The Urban Voodoo Machine.

It was the most amazing night, it just had the most fantastic atmosphere and you actually felt as if you were in a real Halloween Ball at Dracula's Manor back in the sixteen hundreds it was so extravagant, with a real romantic, gothic, dream-like feel to it. Definitely fit the theme of the 'beautiful and the damned'. Only wish it had gone on for longer. It was around four thirty when we left the party and headed home. What a night, Halloween is my new favourite holiday, I wish I could stay longer and go to their masquerade balls too! Maybe I should start something like this in Sydney...although I hope there is something similar at home because I really want to go again!

Happy Halloween :)

The Unofficial Rules and Regulations of Portsmouth

Having lived in Portsmouth for about a month and a half now and following a pretty straight forward and repetitive routine, I've come to learn about certain themes, trends, patterns, whatever you want to call them, that seem to run strong throughout Portsmouth.While a commendable police department attempt to keep the law and order in this city to their best ability, it is the people of Portsmouth who play a large role in the up keeping of the, what i like to call, unofficial rules and regulations of Portsmouth living. I've put together a list of the particular important ones that need to be strictly followed on a day to day basis.

1. One must always wear ridiculously huge fake eye lashes - this particular physical trend gets its own mention because it's a must do. Some, I might say, look quite nice...if done properly and not accompanied by an entire stick of eyeliner and tube of mascara. With some of them I can't tell whether they are squinting or actually don't have eyeballs at all. Seriously, you could sweep the floor with some of those sets!

2. On a night out clubbing, one should always have big hair, a fake tan and a tight dress, oh and MASSIVE platform shoes...ones that you can't actually walk in but look good when standing and subtly holding on to something. But seriously, am I getting older or are the dresses getting shorter?

3. You must have an inability to not complain and just enjoy the sunshine should, God forbid, food take longer than fifteen minutes even though we're more or less at capacity in our bar/restaurant area. Never relax on a Saturday you must always be in a hurry to get somewhere else. Anywhere else than where you are. Run Run Run Portsmouth seniors! Oh and don't forget to leave your pouches of medication behind when you leave in a huff and never return for them. I seriously think we could start a pharmaceutical company as a side business with the amount of times it happens.

4. You must consume unlimited amounts of Red Bull every Wednesday and Friday (students only). The aim is to never sleep again...I swear some of them don't considering the state they turn up to Highlight in each week. The smell of it now makes me shudder, which is unfortunate considering I generally work on the VIP bar on Wednesday and Friday night and sell ONLY double vodka red bulls and jager bombs. Lucky me.

5. It's totally out of the question to line up or pay to get in anywhere in Portsmouth if you work at a surrounding bar/club/promotions company. Quote: "Ummmm, Did you line up and pay just then to get in to the Lyberry? Gutted! What a loooooser!" Thanks a lot!

6. You cannot be aged 24, unless you are a foreigner like me. The age 24 doesn't exist here. I haven't met one other person my age. I am not joking. Either they all stop at 22...which seems to be the case...or they jump to 27 and older. Are they all being kept in a cage somewhere? Or have I missed the memo on what you do when your 24, cause you obviously aren't at uni, working in a bar or in the navy, which are the areas where young people generally seem to be down here.

7. If a member of the opposite sex refuses to give over their phone number upon request, never fail to go to Plan B - "Well can I at least add you on Facebook?" Like one rejection wasn't enough, let's stick the knife in further and go for two!

8. If something goes wrong for someone, preferably your friend or housemate - i.e. they're called into work on their day off, lose something valuable, get sick etc...NEVER give them sympathy, rather make them feel so much better by simply saying: "GUTTED." Revelling in other's misery...that's what friendship is all about. Not to say it's not satisfying when you get your revenge and can say it right back to them five minutes later when they are the one who suddenly suffers from a bout of rough news or bad luck. We're all just as bad as each other. It's just the way it goes.

9. Always drop money in the toilets at bars and clubs...no more than 20p though...if it's over 20p you're going to have to fish it out...yes, I have seen this happen. Not cool. Stick to the popular copper coins of 1p and 2p...sometimes splash out with a 10p and then if you're feeling really generous...the 20p. Either they must all have money in their back pockets or they just want something pretty to look at when they enter the cubicle, but seriously every time I do toilet checks at work there's always money shining from the bottom of the toilets. It's weird.

10. Now I know I have commented already on the female population and their attire, so it only seems fair to have a look at the male dress sense as well. So jeans are a pretty mainstream thing among guys when they go out, but what I have noticed is that a lot of them obviously find it a bit difficult to deal with normal jeans that have a zipper and button due to the state in which they find themselves most nights of the week, so therefore have resorted to wearing jeans with elastic at the top. These kind of remind me of the huggies pull up nappy advertisments


              Now let me just make it clear that in no way am I suggesting any of these trends are right or wrong, they are simply observations. In the end they do make Portsmouth a very colourful and eventful place to live. I do enjoy each and every one of them, except maybe the complaining about food taking too long...that annoys me...all of us...a lot.

Tonight is going to be a particularly exceptional night working in Portsmouth, as we are hosting the annual 'Ladies Night', in which 150 drunk women scream and grab and male strippers going the full monty. The eyelashes, hair and outfits will be out of control, stay posted for a run down on the evening, no doubt there'll be plenty of stories!

Guilty Pleasures - Splurging in Rokii

What is exciting for me and unfortunate for my bank account I have found a shop in Portsmouth that I have fell in love with. There are a number of unique and quirky shops along Albert Road in Portsmouth, however Rokii is the one that pulls me in with its colourful array of one off pieces of clothing, jewellery, bags, shoes and other accessories. This is the result of just one visit there:

Dress: Pop: England - £22

Floral Onesie: Motel - £24

Vest: Limited Collection - £9

Floral Sunnies: £5 

Necklace: £3

(I apologise for the presentation of my new items, I don't have a lot of space to work with in my shoebox room!)
 

Love love love these buttons on the dress!

Always need a new pair of shades :)

No doubt I will be back on my next day off :)

Getting our Teenage Dirtbag On - Wheatus Play at Highlight

Now that the University year is back in full swing there are a lot of gigs and concerts on all around Portsmouth. Highlight holds a lot of them which is unreal for us because we get to see them regardless of whether we're working or not. One of the bands that were scheduled to play at Highlight was Wheatus, one of those bands that to most if not all people were a one hit wonder back in the late nineties/early naughties, but that one song, 'Teenage Dirtbag' was awesome, especially when you were thirteen and just heading into puberty and therefore hitting a grungy stage. There were spare tickets so when Vinnie, Nick, Evans and I were scheduled to have a night off we decided we'd get in touch with our inner early teen and go along. Jamie, Ross and some of the other crew from Yates's and the Lyberry joined us, plus some of Ty's friends and then Robyn got knocked off around nine so we had a pretty good team to go with!

We didn't pay much attention to the band that played before Wheatus, and to be fair we didn't give Wheatus our full attention throughout their set either. But we did enjoy ourselves. Robyn and I made the most of it and had a bit of a dance, she actually knew the words to other songs, I was so impressed. Everyone was just hanging out for 'Teenage Dirtbag' to come on. Wheatus knew this and were pretty good sports about it, as they kept saying at the end of each song, "Yeh we know you all want to hear the 'dirtbag' song, we'll play it soon." When it did finally come on though it went off, everyone was jumping around, singing along. They even remixed it and had one of the band members freestyle rap in the middle of it which was cool. Was a really good way to end the set and did leave a good impression.

After the set we all got to meet the band, and Mr. Wheatus as we called the lead singer. It was his birthday so he was giving everyone cupcakes with 'Wheatus' written in icing on the top. Naturally icing ended up all over everyones clothes and in their hair but when we did manage to actually taste some they were really yummy! We got a few photos with Mr. Wheatus then once the place started clearing out we headed down to Guild Hall to have a few drinks at the Lyberry.

The Lyberry was pumping as usual, there was a huge girl fight in the bathrooms at one point and I had to run and find the bouncers, it was crazy! Added a bit of excitement to the night I guess...luckily no major injuries I think. All in all it was a really good night, never would have made the effort to go and see Wheatus had they not conveniently been playing at our club but I'm glad I got to see them it was fun.