East Sheen

After the incident in Hagley it was time for a fresh start we were given a job in the Lake District but had another interview lined up that we had already agreed to attend. This is how we came to live in East Sheen, the people that interviewed us wow'd us with their personality, freedom and friendliness. Above all they were personable and cat lovers.

The last thing that we wanted to do was work for another manager that treats us like we were robots for the company that they are trying to run (Mitchells and Butler, building teams of soleless automatons since whenever, I don't care enough to look up when they started). Not saying that the employer that hired us first was going to be like that, they however did request that we show up with several white shirts and black trousers as our uniform...5 days a week. Black tie too for Dan.

By contrast Sara and Simon at the Hare and Hounds were personable real people, and we got the sense that they were looking to add to their working family rather than recruit robots. That plus a laxness on uniform policy were two major factors in influencing our decision to shove the Lake District and live in London instead.

Hoping on the train we arrived at Mortlake station a mini little stop that is around the corner from High Street from there we are just a hop, jump and skip away from Hare and Hounds our new home. East Sheen itself is an affluent residential district with a serviceable high street (Waitrose, Tesco, WHSmith, cafes and stores), far enough out of the city to not be overwhelmingly busy, but still with attractions of its own, such as the nearby Richmond Park. There's little else to be said for the place other than that the locals as we've met them through working in the pub are an eclectic mix of normal people, overly spendy people and the usual slightly odd regulars that you get anywhere. Whatever they are they're better than the pretentious snobs that made up the target market for the Lyttelton Arms. No-one at the Hare and Hounds bemoans the fact that they can't have a slice of cucumber with their Hendricks.

Hagley - The Lyttleton Arms

After almost a month in the Nottinghamshire area we were off again, I liked the fact that we were with good friends and things could have been more stressful. Luckily for us we have good people sending us positive energy throughout that time. For the people out there this is my shout out to them, thank you so much for supporting us in what we are doing. Searching for that place in life that makes us happy isn't easy and sometimes we need those wonderful people to lean on.

We set off to Bath for an interview at a B&B for a hotel management position in hopes to run a B&B like our own. A place with Roman baths and much to see and do, a very touristy place. Daniel and I didn't have much time to explore the city since we were off to the next work location for the Christmas.

Be wary of this station we arrived early in the morning to pick up our tickets to head to Birmingham and they were shut. This was at 8am, says that it opens at 7am during the week. Is it just one guy that works here? I guess he isn't coming to work today.

After many transfers on a train (4 to be exact) we made it to Hagley train station to start work at the Lyttleton Arms. We were greeted with warm welcomes and talk of a wonderful establishment that caters to  large events and many menu specials throughout the week. We got a three course meal from the boss to see how the place works and a room to ourselves in the staff house next to the building.

A picture I snagged off of their site.

The staff house lounge area and kitchen was not very clean but we were told that it was horrid before they had fired everyone that partied to much. It is hard to manage so many people into clean after one another. Plus. people like to party when they are far away from home and working hard all day. At least our room was clean even though I thought we would get a double bed instead we got two singles pushed together.

The next day of training a very brief run through of the table numbers and the tills, I asked as many questions as possible in hopes to get more training and answers. I ran food to tables to get a hold of the menu that was pretty self explanatory. I guess everyone here just gets to get out there and prove themselves that they are good enough for the company. Award driven and corporately involved with making the best of the average is what they are going for here.

Following my very short training I went live on the floor, the tills were messy and disorganized. Luckily for me the people that I was working with were friendly and helpful. I got very little assistance with learning things correctly and being informed so I could do my job right. I asked a lot of questions this week, in the end we aren't going to be staying.

A night out in Birmingham was fun but it is a bit of a ways out, there isn't much to see in this area. The main street is mini and only runs about half a km long.

Now we are on the move again. Seriously I think we are professional nomads, Scotland left a much better impression on us. We miss you Harris.

Couch surfing Nottingham Part 2

After eating a Thai lunch I was fully stuffed and ready to wander around town, after doing several loops and stopping in Nero to grab some coffee it was time to meet my next host. I figured I would get more from staying with another host. Plus this would mean that I would get to see more of the city.

Troy and I walked over to the Burger Kitchen to meet her and her friend. After chatting for a while we all went our separate way. Ili and I went over to her place in a fancy upper class student apartments. Shared kitchen but their own en suite bathrooms. I really liked this place reminds me of the high rises we have back at home with a gym and other amenities available on site. The building itself seemed to have very high security and lots of rules but I guess that is just to enforce proper living within the building.

She flashed her key card on several doors through corridors and on a lift we finally made it. This place is much larger than I had expected. I wonder how many people live in this building alone, must be a lot since there was three flats per one kitchen. Maybe more!

Ili and I had a nice Big Bang Theory marathon since I hadn't watched any of the new season, so she caught me up. I think I have re kindled my love for the show as well. After the mini marathon we stayed up talking into the night about life experiences and adventures abroad. Ili is one awesome girl! I had a great nights sleep and was ready for the next day.

I had told her about the music festival Branch Out we did a bit of research on the venues and ended picking one in the same. Called Malt Cross but the music didn't start until earlier hours of the evening. We still had some time to explore and get into town. Ili mentioned a vintage fair, sure why not it was a £1 to get in and we would get a chance to find some antiques.

We entered this old building which I am sure was used for a theatre or still is, there was tea, cupcakes and all sorts of things for sale. From jewellery, clothing, accessories, tie dye, military camouflage and tonnes more of nick nack type items. What I wasn't quite prepared for was all the people that were going to be there, swarms of people of all types and sizes were there trying to muscle through to the next stand. I couldn't tell who was selling goods verses the consumers. After a short while we believed we had seen it all and were tired of the crowd. Time to find a nice place to get a hot beverage.

Their speciality drink is a hot chocolate with Maltesers, they also do a pretty good Chai Latte.

Since we really didn't have any place in mind we figured we would head over to the Malt Cross early to check out the venue. we had a back up place in mind since the music started at 3 pm at one of the other stages. When we arrived though I absolutely loved the converted style that had taken from this old theatre into a pub venue. A balcony level giving full view of the stage from above and also a more private seating area, the stage itself was on a mezzanine where it looks like only staff can get to. Which was a nice change from the usual pub seats shoved aside for a dance floor and a stage at the end. The bottom floor has nice long cozy sofas for more a booth feel. Ili and I loved it we were engaged in conversation until the bands started playing I think we spent about 6 hours sitting there, luckily for me I enjoyed every moment of it.

What a wonderful time I had with Ili now I must say good bye to Nottingham.

Couch Surfing Nottingham

Since I had a weekend free to do whatever I wanted I figured that it would be a good idea to see the sights of Nottingham. After doing a bit of research I was able to locate some people that I could stay with and not only that I had found a music festival that I could go to. With many venues and all for free no less, local musicians and tonnes of talent to be displayed. Since that was only Sunday I had some time to kill, what better way to pass some time than to meet the locals.

I headed off to meet my first host from Couchsurfer (I highly recommend this site) he was very friendly and we had a long conversation in regards to travelling, teaching around the world, music, movies and even relationships. He was very easy to get along with. The next day I got a nice hot shower and it was off to see some sights in town.

Robin Hood!

I think it speaks for itself. 

Inside the oldest inn in England the rooms were all part of the inner workings of the cave, my host was very nice to give me a historic tour whilst we were walking towards the inn. They had lots of beers and ales for people to try offering three mini pints for £4 where you can pick and choose. Pretty good deal! So we indulged a bit and had an early afternoon drink. There were also swords and gauntlets of all sorts in the display cases along the walls. They have a pretty comprehensive menu but I didn't order any food so I couldn't tell you if it was any good. I can however let you know that it was packed in there and finding a seat could prove to be difficult. The bar itself was labelled crematorium which I thought was a nice touch and the ceiling above the bar had all sorts of bank notes from around the world. Even saw a 20 dollar bill from Canada. I didn't realize how long it has been since I had seen one. :P

We considered going into the history museum but there was a door fee on  the weekends and there was a children's event going on at the Nottingham Castle mind you I did get to take a quick peek through the gates. I guess after seeing the Edinburgh Castle this one seemed small. Mind you their gift shop had lots of interesting Robin Hood swag.

He was nice enough to wait with me at the town centre square where I waited for my friend for a wonderful lunch.

Leaving Edinburgh

Greyfriars Bobby

From check out we had 9 hours to kill, what to do next? Since Danny and I are so fond of our museums off to the national museum of Scotland. A place that matched the British museum. With tonnes of unique animals that I have not seen before a rarity for myself since I have been in so many.

The best thing I saw there was the Crysophase, or 'time eater', a crazy clock adorned with a massive decorative grasshopper that kept irregular time, resyncing every five minutes as a means of representing the varying speeds of time's passage as humans perceive it.

The Time Eater 

 The second one was the 'millennium clock', it was made in the tribute to human suffering with many layers of historical figures of war time. Like Lenin, Hitler, Stalin I can't remember the last one. Not only that it stood so very tall with tiers that mirrored other evils humanity had to suffer through.

The Millenium Clock. 

When our feet started to ache once more I dragged Danny to Dim Sum since it had been far to long. I researched a place after looking through the to do guide for Edinburgh in our hotel room. The restaurant we ended up eating at was called Saigon Saigon, I had initially been looking for a bowl of pho. This restaurant served very little Vietnamese food despite the name. When I did get on their website it had a very colourful menu, with an all day a la carte section. Making it very enticing and hard to refuse.

Now it was time to sample their food, the staff all spoke Mandarin so I couldn't communicate with them very well. Most of the wait staff seemed to know enough to take an order,  after ordering exactly what I wanted and some more to go I was supper happy.

1.  Beef ho fun
2.  Chinese doughnut wrapped in rice noodles
3.  Steamed pork buns
4.  Rice noodles with peanut sauce
5.  Sticky rice with Chinese sausage egg and chicken in a banana leaf

The food was good but the prices for each dish seemed expensive £ 3+ per plate, the noodles were from the main menu costing £8. 

Either way I was pleasantly full and it was time to start the journey down country. Let's quickly recap.

1. Ferry 1:40 
2. Bus 4:20
3. Gondola 0:30
4. Train 5:15
5. Train 5:00
6. Train 0:45
7. Bus 0:20
8. Car 0:20 

From Tarbert to Long Eaton, over 18 hours!

Finally made it into a bed, time to sleep and get things sorted in the morning.