Posts in the ‘London’ Category

Weekly Reading and a Dose of Wicked

This past week has been quite a lot of fun. On Saturday night we went to see Wicked, which was quite a lot of fun, especially since the audience got really into it — there were girls there in green face paint and a lot of the crowd gave a standing ovation at the end. It was really interesting to see how they turned the book into the musical, though I read it quite a few years ago and don’t remember everything, so there were still a few surprises. The ending was also different from what I remembered. The show also had some great effects, including a huge dragon puppet over the stage and lots of flying/floating.

Today I had a nice morning at Tuttle Club/Social Media Cafe, where I got to catch up with some of the usual crowd as well as meet some new people. I only wish I had been been able to get there earlier or stay a bit later. I hadn’t been in a few weeks, and I really missed it. I hope I get to make it the next few weeks before we leave town.

My Londonist posts for the week:

I’m also still doing lots of work over at Workology, so if you consider yourself a Workologist — someone who works freelance or has their own business — please come join the discussion. The site is growing quickly and there are a lot of new conversations and job opportunities on the site.

No Comments

June 6th, 2008 - London, Writing

, , , , , , ,

A Day of Frustrating Visa Troubles

For our big summer trip, the only visa we need to get in advance is the one for India. And as luck would have it, the High Commission in London has just in the past week changed their system to an outsourced company to help alleviate the long lines and disorder that would typically accompany a visa-purveying trip.

Evan and I got our papers all ready over the weekend. We had our photos, our passports, our references and our supporting documents. We were short a paper clip, so I stopped by the Hilton on my way to the bus stop and asked at the front desk — they were happy to hand one over (thank you very much!). I got to the visa office just minutes after it opened at 8:30 and stood in a short line outside in the morning drizzle. When I got inside, I was instructed to take a number, then go wait. It was no different than being at the DMV.

I had a book with me — thank goodness, since I waited an hour and a half — and when I got up to the counter, I was told that I could get my tourist visa but Evan couldn’t. Now Evan certainly doesn’t have any reason to be denied a simple tourist visa, so what could be the problem? He doesn’t have a UK visa. Since our stay here is less than 6 months, he only has a work permit, which is good through July 4, 2008. I got a visa because it was the easiest way for me to go.

Now why should this matter? I’m not quite sure. We’re both here legally, we’re not returning to the UK after our trip and we’ll be leaving the country before Evan’s visa expires. But apparently his non-visa status strips him of his right to getting a visa to a foreign country he would otherwise be allowed to travel to.

It’s not like we have anywhere else to get the visa. The U.S. India visa site tells us we need to apply for a visa wherever we currently are — we shouldn’t be shipping passports overseas. The agent’s suggestion: Get our visas from Cairo. And while spending part of our short stay in Egypt in a visa queue sounds ever so appealing, we’re not guaranteed we’ll get it there, either. It will take at least 3-4 business days to process, which would be cutting it awfully close when we only have a week in the city.

Fittingly, when Evan emailed the Cairo High Commission, they told him it would probably be easier to apply in the UK, so we’re just being sent around in circles.

So now we’re debating whether to keep our itinerary and try to get visas from Cairo or to change our plans and head to Cyprus, Turkey, Israel or some other location instead. Maybe this is our sign that we shouldn’t be heading to Mumbai during monsoon season.

No Comments

June 2nd, 2008 - London, Travel

, , , , , , , , , ,

Britishism: Acid Drops

Evan spied these candies at the Kew Gardens gift shop and ran over to us making a joke about dropping acid, of course. The Brits we were with started laughing and said, “Until right now, we’d never thought of it in that way”!

No Comments

June 2nd, 2008 - London, Random Things

, , , ,

Walking in the Trees at Kew

Kew Treetop WalkwayKew treetop walkway

Last weekend, we went to check out the Treetop Walkway at Kew Gardens on its opening day. The line to climb the stairs snaked down a pathway, but it moved pretty quickly, and we were soon up in the trees on the sinewy metal structure.

Though it was a shorter pathway than I anticipated, I really enjoyed being up in the trees, feeling the structure sway with the wind and getting to enjoy the great views of the Temperate House and other Kew Gardens sites.

kew treetop walkway

Not everyone was as thrilled to be up in the trees, though. For those with any discomfort with heights, the walkway made them a bit queasy, and there were quite a few people clutching on to the railings or their partners and waiting eagerly to get down.

The biggest thing I would change about the walkway would be to add an additional entry/exit point, since there was only one — a single staircase only big enough for people to go single file each way, which caused quite a backlog on the narrow walkway. There was a lift right across from the stairs, but it wasn’t ready to be used yet.

We also went to check out the other summertime special tree exhibit, the Rhizotron, which was supposed to teach about root systems. We were unimpressed. It was really directed toward little children, with a cute mosaic, a few metal roots on the walls of the tunnel and some cartoony bugs. It seemed like an afterthought compared to the treetop walkway.

Check out more photos of the walkway on Flickr. And check out all the photos from day as well.

No Comments

June 1st, 2008 - London

, , , ,

Evan Plays Abbey Road

Sunday, Evan and I got quite a treat — we went to a scoring session at Abbey Road Studios, the famed studio where The Beatles recorded, and got to watch a 96-piece orchestra recording. We got to sit on a little balcony overlooking the room, and I was surprised to see some instruments I’d never seen before — most notably, two large brass instruments that looked like variations on a tuba and a trombone. I didn’t get any photos of them, though.

Watching the orchestra made me a bit nostalgic for my time playing in the band and orchestra in middle school and high school. But the highlight of the day was that Evan got to test out the huge Steinway while the orchestra was on break. He gave a concert for quite a few onlookers and impressed them all with his musical talents.

Evan playing piano at Abbey Road

No Comments

May 19th, 2008 - London

, , , , ,

Weekly Reading, Creative Coffee Club and Tuttle

It’s been another fun-filled week in London. Evan got back into town on Monday, Wednesday I went to Creative Coffee Club for the first time, Thursday Evan’s parents arrived and I also met up with a new London friend, and Friday I went to Tuttle Club. I also managed to write a couple of Londonist posts and finally submitted my bio and photo to go on their staff page after just a few months of Lindsey bugging me to send them in.

This week’s posts:

Creative Coffee Club was a nice meeting of about 15 people. We discussed creating a “network of networks” to bring people together as well as a host of other topics, ranging from creativity on social networks to yawning kittens. It really got me thinking about the networks we all belong to, how we use them differently and how they converge in various ways. It also made me think about people’s anxieties while networking both online and off since I feel like I’m often a tentative connector, though I do somehow find a way to open up and make friends. Thanks, Toby, for the invitation.

Yesterday, I made a new friend in London who actually found me on my blog. Jen is a friend of the BSE who has been in London for a little while, so she sent me an email after seeing my interview with Battlecat and we met for lunch.

Tuttle Club/Social Media Cafe was nice today — it was quieter than usual, so I didn’t feel squished, it wasn’t too loud, and I was able to have some good conversations with people. I talked to some of my usual friends like Steve (who wrote a great post this week about a musician with a bad attitude) and Janet, who I also saw at the Creative Coffee Club, and I got to speak more with some new friends, like Vikki, Improbulus (who mysteriously does not share her real name), Allix and Dan.

We also booked our big trip today, so if you have tips on any of our destinations, please send them along.

And tomorrow I should be heading out for a day in Bath, so look for lots of new photos soon.

No Comments

May 16th, 2008 - London, Writing

, , , , , ,

Weekly Reading and a New Watercolor

hyde park serpentine watercolor

Today, after going to Tuttle and having a lovely Friday morning talking to friends and making new ones, I headed to Hyde park with my watercolors, intent on painting something in the afternoon sunshine. What you see above was my one and only creation — a view of the end of the serpentine, facing the Hilton Hotel (which you can see rising over the trees). I was never particularly talented with watercolors, but I still like to try. And sitting on a bench in the middle of the park, I just didn’t really have the patience for mixing colors or measured brushstrokes. I’m also pretty horribly out of practice, though it was fun to be outside, doing something.

In the park, I notice that things were completely different from two weeks ago when Evan and I went and took photos. The tulips in those striking gardens were almost completely gone and their flowerbeds looked frazzled. The supposedly dead tree that people were climbing — seriously, it had NO leaves or even buds — was lush and verdant, forming an intriguing bower. And the beautiful flowering tree, with full, pink blooms, had no flowers to speak of. My how things change…

Writingwise, this week has been busy. It was my last week at Sugarscape.com. In my 6 weeks there, working three or four days a week, I managed to write 69 stories, not counting competition copy (the numbers on my page are a bit off since it includes individual photos for galleries). It was sad to leave Alex and Becs, who were lots of fun to work with, and they bought me a lovely bouquet and a travel journal for my summer trip.

I also wrote a post for Londonist, “Shocking: Amy Winehouse Arrested, Let Out on Bail,” and a post for Workology, “Want to reduce your WTD? Get a VA!” I would love for all you freelancers and small business owners who read this blog to come join me at Workology, or at least comment on my blog posts — as of today, you don’t need invites anymore to join the new social network for independent workers.

And if you haven’t read the blog post about Best Supper Ever (I know, it’s just below on the page right now), go take a gander — Battlecat gave an awesome interview.

No Comments

May 9th, 2008 - Art & Entertainment, London, Writing

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,