We're leaving on a jet plane...

Spent this past Saturday in Brighton, which is about 1.5 hours South-East of us and by the coast.

• Brighton Pier - this is probably the most famous landmark in Brighton and is a long long pier with a carnival at the end of it and hundreds, well probably thousand of tourists just wandering in and around it. We actually didn't go on the pier but instead sat on the beach.
• The beach itself was odd in that it was completely small rocks. No sand whatsoever. So when i stepped into the cold water and got up to my knees wet, the walk back uphill to my sandals was painful on the feet lol.
• Norbert brought along his kite which he flys in a sport called 'kiting'. Basically its hard-core kite-flying and pretty cool. Though when I tried, i didn't quite get the feel for it and i had to luckily struggle and crash land it between sunbathers! whoops! We will definitely try it again, but at an open park!
• Brighton has also a large gay community and that's cool and all of course. The funny thing I noticed was that on the radio, there was a local radio station called 'Gaydar Radio' which played mostly electronic music...lol love it!
• There was also an Indian-Chinese pavillion called the Royal Pavillion which Michelle and Cigdem toured through but Norbert and I skipped it and just headed to the beach.
• Great shopping in and around he city of Brighton, with lots of little independant stores that outnumber and type of chain-type stores. We will definitely go back to do more shopping for unique stuff. Also bought my new Prada sunglasses there lol. Who would've thought eh?

So on a whim, Michelle and I decided to go to Barcelona for my birthday, a Fri-Sun trip to the coast of Spain...and all i can say is WOW. Initially at first I wasn't too impressed with the city since we only did go down the main shopping street and didn't have very good tapas. But, from Friday night and through Saturday everything changed and my eyes were opened..

• Stayed at the Barcelona Center Hotel, a 4-star property that was 2 streets away from Placia de Gracia but at the top end. Not near the water but right beside the BEST tapas restaurant ..the BEST - called Cerveseria Catalunya. The BEST tapas and amazing friendly service..from mostly Filipino waiters!
• Placia de Gracia - main shopping street with high-end fashion. Of course we didn't shop there but the day we planned to (Sunday), all shops were closed! Good thing? possibly..
• Gaudi - a 19th century Surrealist artist who is intertwined with Barcelona's landscape and architectural beauty. Seriously, this guys work is all over Barcelona and the detail and fantasy-like almost candy-like nature of his work is a huge attraction in BCN. From the famous cathedral Sagrada Familia (scheduled to be completed in 2030) to the Parc Guell - two places we visited, it was almost like entering another world and you either absolutely loved it or thought it was one of the ugliest designs...we loved it.

• Took a tour bus all around Barcelona and stopped at the Olympic Park, site of the 1992 Summer Olympics. It's unreal how all the buildings and the site seem so 'abandoned' and 'unused' after seeing the millions of people mulling around during those 2-3 weeks. Also drove through various neighbourhoods and along the coast..very cool.
• At night, we headed down to the beach area and for a couple nights, listened to good house at a couple beachfront lounges, Shoko, Opium. Miguel Migs was also at a club while we were there and we only realized it as we were catching a cab back to the hotel..argh!!
• Ate so much cured ham (Prosicutto), tapas, beer (San Miguel and Estrella!)..we will definitely come back and next time visit the beach!!

Just a short note to keep track of the dates/courses i've played and any quick general comments:

2008-06-17 - Pine Ridge Golf Centre (w/Michelle's co-workers); average course
2008-06-25 - Chobham Golf Club (solo); short layout, hard fairways
2008-07-08 - Pine Ridge Golf Centre (w/Michelle's co-workers)
2008-07-15 - West Hill Golf Club (solo); excellent course condition, fairways/greens in great shape
2008-07-16 - Pyrford Golf Club (solo); links-style course, great condition, looooong round as i was trapped behind a tournament and all foursomes..ugh
2008-07-27 - Milford Golf Club (w/Michelle's co-workers); hard, dry fairways, short course but challenging; shot a 92 and lost by 8.

Oh..and Happy Bday to me today. Getting alot of well wishes from great friends and it's only 11:00am back home!

So after being here for the past few weeks, I realized that this place is pretty damn expensive. For people back home, i try to compare it by saying, "..imagine living in Toronto, with the usual cost of living/stuff but cut your salary in half."

Really. That's how i've been experiencing it so far so I made the decision to look for a job and earn some British Pounds. It also helps us do all the things we want to do while we're here and not go broke in the process (travelling within Europe, dining out at nice restaurants, shopping..)

Recruiters. Hate em, love some of em, hate the rest of em more. Seriously, i have had some interesting experiences with recruiters over here and I'm sure its not a UK thing but the whole dog-eat-dog world of recruiting definitely turned me off the last few of them and I was not being very co-operative. But I guess, i should look at it as I have skills that employers need and they recognize that and i could be a good recruit for them. Anyways, i met some good ones and some retarted ones but i can admit that i did need their help.

Anyways, had 5 (apparently) very interested clients, 4 set me up with interviews, 1 i was underqualified for, 1 i was overqualified for and the 2 others gave me 2nd interviews immediately after the 1st round.

Glad to say, that I accepted one of the offers and will now be a working citizen of the UK.

Now to figure out how taxes and how Canadian laws come into play...ugh.

(The working couple..?)

We went to the Cotswold today, a range of hills in west-central England, with towns with weird names such as Bourne-on-the-Water and Stow-on-the-Wold (which we both visited). We met up with Richard, another one of Michelle's co-workers who lived near the area and showed us around and took us for 'clotted cream' (see below).

• Bourne-on-the-Water - first place we went to, and probably the most popular, tourist-attraction one. It was characterized with several small footbridges crossing a little River Windrush that winded through the city center. The weather was unpredictable (again) with rain, sun, rain, sun..all day long.
• Visited the Miniature Village which had a complete 1/9th replica of the town and within that replica, had another mini-replica..lol.
• Had afternoon tea with cream tea. Cream tea is basically regular tea but served with scones and a butter called 'clotted cream'. Cream that was as thick as butter - minimum fat content of 55%!!!!. It was sooooooo good but i believe that if you had this every day or every other day, your arteries would get clogged up mighty fast.
• Stow-on-the-Wold - took a short drive out to this next small town but it wasn't as picturesque as the last one. A bit more mainstream and busy with local traffic. If this were Markham, this would be Markham Main Street and Bourne-on-the-Water would be Unionville Main Street.
• Tried hand-pulled real english ale, Arknell's, for the first time at a pub here. Very flat and served at room temperature. "Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1973 for a type of beer defined as 'beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide'" - Wikipedia. Basically you can tell real ale from lager in that it doesn't go down with that carbon dioxide fizziness in your throat..less carbonated.