Snow is falling....

Well snow isn't falling anymore but still need to get into the Christmas mood. We now have a Christmas tree made of lights and that's as far as we go on decorations. Haven't really touched my room either...should put some tinsel up really! Make a bit of an effort. They are talking about snow though this week which would be nice as long as it doesn't make me miss my plane or the likes! I can't wait to go home this time next week!! Yahoo!!! Have some presents bought but need to complete them and have no idea what to get some people ie Roisin Henley! So anyway back to the boring blog...I am in bed at the moment (Sunday) and have decided instead of doing work I will write in this as it is oh-so-important and needs to be done too. Right? Right!
Okay well last weekend wasn't planned like I thought it would be. Went knacker drinking in a park in London as me and Claire were too late for the house party and by the time we would have made it to Pimlico everyone would have been in South Ken. There was loads of snow everywhere so that was really cool but we got drunk really quickly which was strange as we didn't drink that much and then we never made it into the club. We did manage some nice photos outside everywhere we went including the Royal Albert but then we had to go home. Spent Saturday feeling very sorry for myself and just did nothing as far as I remember.....think I ate a lot of ice cream or something....
I should really have gotten rid of the red eye oh well! So then I felt so bad that I spent the whole day on Sunday in the library but got tons done which is what I should have done today. Oh well!!  :)


So the week then started with all the snow gone! No more snow in London but we still had to catch up on classes which was fine. I had a presentation to do for Tues that was set back until Thursday but was okay as the topic wasn't too bad to talk about (snRNP and the over abundance of U1 and why for all those Science nerds!).
So yeah in classes this week we were learning about tons of different virus' which was interesting as it wasn't just about their mechanisms but how each specific one infects etc (Norovirus, HSV, HBV). And then on top of that we carried out a SDS PAGE and Western Blot which was fun as I only got to make a gel last year in Cambridge and this time I got to run it! Looked for photos there and they aren't online yet. Our lab pracs are pretty basic but at least it gets us out of the class room!! We are normally in the basement and people Booles have got nothing on these guys. They are so warm and smell....it's so fantastic I <3 going there every day.....urgh.
So anyway my week was kinda boring other then that. Have a lot of college work coming up. Have a poster rough draft informally due tomorrow and then college apps for next year too.
This Friday though (as in last sorry) we had our international Christmas Binge which meant food, food and more food!! We thought there wouldn't be enough and then there was waaaay too much but everyone was nicely full. My Irish contribution was mashed spuds, carrots and parsnip mashed and hot whiskey's which everyone loved a lot! Party went on until like 5am which was fun!! Which also meant no work to be done yesterday as I was dying again but last swing in London before Christmas so it went down really well! Have no photos of it as I left my camera in the room but there will maybe be an edited version with some? We'll see how techie savie I get....
So yeah short and sweet this time. Gonna have to blog next Sat before I leave and then it's Ireland time!! Trying to get a Colombian friend over for Christmas as he can't go home but he may need a visa so we'll see how that goes. Who needs a visa these days like?!!? ttfn!!

From 1 to London this is.....

So I have the day off again today due to the 'snow' which before today I believed was all made up by the media....Nah only kidding but seriously we were untouched by it until last night and at that the 2cm would not stop anything here. But to start where I left off.... 23rd Nov. My week last week ended with coming 3rd in a quiz! We went along to the postgrad quiz just for fun. There were loads of old people there and lots of 16th century UK history questions so we thought we were goners but turns out they were either really, really drunk or just didn't care! We won 3 Christmas tree ornaments, crisps and an advent calendar! Munched into all of it the next day and the ornaments are up in our lab! Nice and nerdy :)
My weekend then started again with getting up at 4:45am and making my way across London only to hear that Dublin airport was closed. Did get a little worried but that all soon left when Ryanair started weighing bags and making them fit into the stupid cage thing or cardboard box! Thank god they didn't ask me to weigh mine but some poor woman had to pay £35. So I think I'll check a bag for Christmas as I think they will be even worse for it!
Moving onto Roisin's party and the likes. Got to Bruff at about 5pm and started decorating the pub with her pictures on cards which were pretty. Then home for lasagne and getting ready! Roisin looked lovely and things kicked off at 9:30pm (ish).

                            Roisin and the girls (she's second from the left in case you don't know!)
So the pub wound down at 2am I suppose or something like that and then Chuckie (the DJ) said he'd come back to the house party if we wanted. Well....that lead to music until about 5am and me getting to bed about 7am with others pulling all nighters. Up again at 10am coz one of Roisin's friends Orla has no inside voice at all, at all!! AND then we found out the sausages were gone....the inquisition started and Mum popped to the shop. One of Roisin's friends pav'd the sausages and some cheese I think. Don't know why. But Mammy sorted us out. Was wrecked all day but so worth it. Off to the airport at 4am the next day with it being -5degrees! They had to defrost our plane before we left and so we got in late and then had to deal with the tube strike but was all good to finally rest in bed and not move from the house!
That didn't happen though coz Ruth McKeon was in town! We headed to a nice Italian in Soho and I so had to go home coz I was toooo tired!

It won't let me turn it but you get the idea! She's underneath the Reagent Street lights!

 After the dinner they headed to Tiger Tiger where they dance the night away. I met up with them after work the next day.

WORK: Reds Hot 2010 Women of the Year awards. There were famous women there, Sadie Frost, Ramsey's wife, and other people I don't really know but was really really fun except the red lipstick part! But I did like the event a lot so hope to get more! It was snowing when I left but nothing major at all. We went for cocktails at B@1 in Soho. Yes I do believe I have a problem with this place....oh well! :) We went to Pizza Express then for dinner, nom noms. Ronan got a healthy, I'm-fat-so-here's-half-a-pizza-with-lettuce-in-the-middle pizza. Looked yummy though. We then set off on our merry way!
9am the next morning Gatwick was closed. After a couple panic hours, Ronan Swan jetted off from Heathrow to Cork for a really shite price. Good thing though coz it's disrupted today. The girls stayed with me and we walked around Westfield before their ordeal journey home.
Paddington-Swansea 8:20-23:20
Swansea -Fishguard 23:45-01:43
Fishguard -Rosslare 2:34-6:15
Rosslare-Wexford 7:50-8:15
Work at 12:00.
Of course there were delays. Their ferry was delayed over an hour but they are home safe and sound and I finally have some snow to look at! ttfn!

Cupcakes!

So it has been a while since I wrote a blog on this thing. Whoops!! So it seems I haven't written since Halloween....what has happened since then...hmmm...well I have had 2 visitors and been home once so far! Haven't been off galavanting though as money is tight but have sorted that problem now too!
So to start with the week after Halloween. Here that week is Bonfire week or Diwali if you are Indian. This means that there are fireworks going off, everywhere!! Every night there were fireworks being set off all over the place. Was crazy but fun! To top this off then I got a visitor on the Friday! My Mum came along to see me which was fun! She nearly missed her 8am flight though thinking it was at 8pm. I would have been really, really sad. There turned out to be a bomb threat as well when she came in (prob knew someone from Ireland was on the train lol ). So we did the touristy things and walked all over the place. Went to the V& A on Exhibition Road which was really nice! So didn't think it would be as nice at all! We also went for cocktails at my favourite B@1 in Soho which was yummy!! We then decided that we could venture through the rain and headed to Clapham Common along with a gazzzillllion other people! We got a good spot though and got to see fantastic fireworks for Guy Fawkes/Bonfire night.

This is one of the videos we took! We then went for a stroll down Oxford Street to look at the Christmas lights! After that eventful day we took it easy the next day and just chilled for a bit heading to Acton town and then to a weaving shop for some felt. It was a short visit but was loads of fun!! Met up with Sean then I think the next day for more B@1 with his friend Andrew. We then proceeded to stalk him on his date in China town which was too funny for words! It was kinda a Jamie moment and I have found someone to do crazy things with me!! :)
The next week was the same old I suppose :p trying to pretend to study while not letting it get to me that I am doing nothing! That week ended with a trip out with some Irish friends, Ciara Meaghar and Mary Macnamara from home! Me and Sean headed to O'Neills in China Town after leaving a sick Nastasia off at Oxford Street. Me and Sean decided we weren't drunk enough and so started on the sneaky shots....not good!! Night bus on your own, not good either and totally not going into the details of that as it was noooot good! I got home about 5am I think and proceeded to have the best sleep of my life! :) Hungover wasn't what I was the next morning but near death. Had to go for more cocktails then at B@1 with my housemates which was fun but was defo worse for wear!! Got home in time then for xfactor which is really important!!
Then next week was busy enough with my job interview from the week before going so well that I was called in for training. I passed this as well so now I have money!! Well once I get some work I'll have money. Another visitor came my way last week. An old friends little sister but she did come with a litre bottle of tropical absolute vodka so she can come back ANY time!! We were busy in the lab too which I have proof of.....

That's me with my lab group, Charlotte beside me and Holly with the huge grin next to her. Think we are prepping some DNA samples or something for a gel. Not too sure really. The labs are fun enough. Not too demanding yet but we are doing things that are good. Digested our DNA today to have sticky ends and stuck it with our plasmids so hopefully something will come of that! May need to read up on it! Using different things to last year. So yeah wasn't too bad a week. Think I'm on the right week.... It ended with waking up at 4:30am to get the first tube 5:36am to get my 8am flight. .Things went really smoothly and I got onto the plane pretty quickly and was surprised by Aisling and Mum at the other side! Didn't see Ash as I was heading towards Roisin but still got a BIG hug! She had slept over the night before just so she could come visit. Got to visit Stella too who was all talk and jumping in excitement at her sister being back! I was so tired on Sat though that I wasn't much fun but did get to watch the Irish game and Beowolf. This weekend I hung out with my Dad, next is Roisin's birthday party weekend so it's down in Bulgaden I'll be. On the Sunday I did get to head to Cork so that was great craic! Flipping cold though but great to walk along Pana again. Waking up at 4am the next morning not fun but back in London for 9am and came home for a nap before my afternoon classes.
This week is pretty busy again too I think. Was supposed to work today but didn't get back to them in time. Oh well. Next time. But have a quiz now on Thursday which will hopefully get loads of my class together! Then off home for Roisin's birthday party. It's her birthday today so HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROISIN!! She finally caught up to me! ;) Think that's enough rambling for one night. Should really start studying!! Or else it will be cram month in Jan! ttfn

A red cat went out to play!

So where to begin! This week was eventful in parts. Classes and Uni are now routine with classes that last over an hour and labs that are pretty easy. The weekend ended in bang then though! Mon- Wed were just the same old with a twist at the start by meeting up with Sean Proctor for cocktails at B@1 in Soho which is a fantastic little bar if you are ever in that end of town. The bar men are really friendly and there is a happy hour Mon and Tues 5-8pm and the rest of the week 5-7pm. They make up their cocktails fresh in front of you and have a great selection!! Unlike Tiger Tiger with their pre-made drinks. The only problem with this bar is the downstairs loo's which from Greece with Jamie proved to be great fun when drunk! This evening was very social as it ended nice and early and got home in a good state.
The rest of the week continued slowly but with an interval on Thursday of costume shopping at Portebello Market. This was really fun as there is really retro stuff along the street as well as a fantastic little cake shop, Hummingbird Bakery, http://hummingbirdbakery.com/  , this place has a "cake of the day" so you can get yummy little cakes for as little as £2.95. They are a must!! Charlotte and Nastasia (girls from my class) got their paper for their costumes and I got a few little things too but the attempt at making the costumes that evening didn't go as planned as we ended up just hanging out which was great fun! Friday was supposed to lead to more costume making but we were all pretty wrecked from the week so I just vegged while my housemates got ready for their ball. They went to The Tuesday Society's Halloween ball which sounded fun.

These are two of the girls I live with. They don't have all their photos up yet so I just stole this one. Molly is on the left and Karen is on the right. They said the whole place (a house at London Bridge) was totally decorated and there was decorated food and all. I think I may have to come to one of the Christmas ones to see what all the fuss is about!

On Saturday then Sean helped me find the rest of my costume as I had no tail or ears so they were a must for completion! Into Soho we went as Google told me that was were the best fabric shops in town were. And they were right! They had the most fantastic material! Roisin you would love this place! £4 spent and I had a ton of material to get started on! At 5pm I started to make me tail. Got a pattern online and away I went! It turned out pretty well though I think. Didn't get a picture of it on it's own but I'm sure I'll have one lying around somewhere. It did look like I had killed a cat in my room but at least I was on my way! The girls came over just after 6pm to start on theirs and by the end of the massacre we looked pretty good I thought. The best part of the night though had to be throwing paint on Sean! I think I had a little to much fun :)   So off to Piccadilly Circus it was!

Me as a red cat (Mozilla Firefox), Charlotte as a compass (Safari), Nas as a pokemon (Google Chrome) and Sean just out of work (a painter/painters palate/paint). This was what we were all rechristened once we stepped out the door. On the tube we met a few grim reapers but there was one woman who couldn't stop laughing at our costumes which was great. As we walked down Reagent's street to Piccadilly we realised that we were maybe a little out of place...turns out people in London don't celebrate Halloween and any person we did meet dressed up were foreigners like us. We did see a couple good outfits though. A head-to-toe tiger outfit and some gouls too. We couldn't decide were to go and after being refused into one bar for being dressed up and another because we weren't gay we decided to head back to the old reliable B@1 which was decked out with cobwebs and blood everywhere!! The bar staff were all dressed as zombies and one was spiderman! It was great fun!! Though most of the other people at the bar weren't dressed up but had fun guessing what we were! Though many went for the cat, compass, pokemon theme. Most people couldn't understand why we were dressed up. Sean was asked what Halloween was and I was asked why I wasn't scary. We need to teach these English how to loosen up!! :) Other then that we had a really fun night!! Got a picture with the bar too so I think this may be my new Preachers? Or is that Blasphamey?

 So Internet browsers was a nerdy theme but sooo much fun!! Bring on Guy Fawkes night now and  my Mum visiting and it'll be a nice break before Christmas. Been here 7 weeks now! It has really gone by fast but looking forward to seeing people soon! 7 weeks until I'm home for Christmas but they will fly by! Ooooh can't wait for the snow here too!!! :) yayayay! Hope this blog wasn't too boring. I really don't have that much news but going to try and meet up with Erin and Caitlin again this week as it has been way to long. Didn't get Take That tickets even with my half hour of refreshing to the stupid error messages. I'll still get to see the girls though I hope so not too bad! Got to clean red fluff from my floor now so I can watch Xfactor and Downton Abbey later! Love Sunday evening tv! ttfn!

Hot Chicken Roll please!

So the update this time includes my trip to Nottingham and Bristol. I did a sort of triangle in the last two weeks! The week also included another week of college which wasn't too bad!
   Nottingham first though. This involved a 2 hour train trip up to Daz and Karolina on the Saturday! We wandered around the place which is really nice and much smaller then London!! Karolina cooked us a really nice chicken dinner too and I'm still standing so she didn't poison us :) It was delicious Kar! But we did proceed to poison ourselves with the drink. Matt (the lads house mate), his girlfriend and a friend of the lads from Uni was the gang. We had cookies supplied form Jen (the friend) which were yummy. Ring of fire then sent things downhill!! N'ham was a blur from the random small pub we went to that reminded me of Cape Clear where I insisted on making everyone tip the nice barman to Rock City where my pink shoes turned black! It was a great night though full of scandal (Karolina....) and drunken ATM trips in the club! It didn't end there though. We met people "from" Cavan and other parts of Ireland though their accents were very deceiving....everyone wanted to be Irish in N'ham it was like Paddy's or something! I happened to get a little lost too on our trip home. We got into a taxi which was fine but upon leaving the taxi I managed to lose everyone and start walking home. Turns out I was going the wrong way but Daz came and found me! Hangovers the next day were awful for the lads but Daz made us a fry which was amazing!! The best part of my weekend came when I was going home 1ST CLASS baby!! :) Some how the cheapest ticket back was 1st class. I wasn't going to complain! It was lovely, I thought I could never go back (had to though :(  ) but was great while it lasted!! The weekend was epic and thanks again lads for having me!!
  My week of college was good. We started labs which were boring enough. We just isolated gDNA which  was practically made up for us already though and our classes weren't great either but that may all change soon. They were very genetics based this week so it was easy for the geneticists (or genesis :) Western Cottage folk). My class and I went out to the local pub in East Acton for a day drink which was a nice old man's pub but went to the longest student bar in London on Thurs fivesixeight (or something weird like that). It wasn't thaaaat long but the drinks were pretty cheap. I stayed until the end (like any good Irish would!) with my Polish and Costa Rican friend. We drank out of a viking horn towards the end of the night which was pretty cool!! Hungover the next day for class wasn't good buuut I then got to.....
   Go to Bristol! Man those people speak so funny!! It's hilarious, Emmerdale and that farmer-ish accent is all I can say. Lesley couldn't make it and Erin didn't come in the end so I headed up on Friday on the train (not first class) but had a great time on that from listening to the 73 year old pig farmer who culls 200 pigs a day (in a great Bristol accent) to the boy from London who bought Nuts and Loaded because they came in a bumper pack together though he really wanted FHM but he thought more value and was just going to look at the jugs until Bath (I'm not making this up!!!). Met Kate then and we wandered around Bristol, up, up, up, up Bristol. There are a lot of hills!!! I forgot my camera so there are no photos I'm sorry. We had the most fantastic fat night though on Friday as we were both hungover. Dominoes pizza nom noms and Amish documentaries and Scream entertained us. On Sat it was raining. But thankfully it cleared up just as we went to go pick up Michael from the bus station. We then headed to Nandos!! Yes I do have a problem and yes I did get my free half chicken. Roll on the free whole chicken!! I heart Nandos a  lot! The three of us then started to get ready and played pick up sticks as we had no cards! Kate looked so pretty!! But she deleted the photos of herself....red dress, black tights with the black line along the back and black heels. She had her lips really really vamp red too so she looked awesome! I proceeded to cut my hair after the first bottle of wine. Thank god I knew then to stop though and it was only my fringe...I think it still looks okay. So Kate lives with 14 other people if you don't know and her house is actually fab! All the people are really nice and are really friendly! She had a huge turn up due to her crazy Chinese class coming who brought her a bottle of Baileys that didn't last that long going around. We headed to Mbargo (I think that's how the stamp spells it) where shots were polished off! It was a crazy night were I ended up getting emotional for some silly reason. We managed to get food after the club which I decided I didn't want anymore and then tried to pass out on Kate's bed but ended up on the blow up with her teddy so all was good. No hangover for me today or Kate which was fantastic! Had to get the bus home which was a far cry from 1st class but wasn't too bad except for the lateness on getting into London. Overall though Bristol gets a 10 stars too! Thanks again Kate for a fab weekend.
   This week I don't have as many plans except making my Halloween costume which I won't tell you about as it is really nerdy and I want the photos to do it justice! I will remember my camera I swear!! More lab pracs and Thurs drinks at the Union again! Must find me a job too, money is running out! Part time jobs are scarce in this area. If any one wants to come to London for Halloween or is around pop in or we can meet for coffee or something mature and adulty. Think that's all my jibber jabber for one night. Time for some Downton Abbey! Bye lads xx

"Go on hit me!"

So to start with the title of this blog entry as it definitely needs some explaining! Was walking home from Uni yesterday on the phone to Sean and some two kids infront of me ran onto the road and yelled "go on hit me!" to an on coming van. Just to clear things up though as you all know I'm really bad at explaining things. This on coming van was about 2 minutes away just turning on to the road so they weren't being that brave and they ran off the road as quickly as they ran on to it so there was no danger but just to show you guys how cool my area is! Sean was well impressed :)

    So now that that useless piece of information has been shared to get onto more useless information for all you bored people! Last week as you know was Week 1 of Uni for me and this finished with a Postgrad Mingle at the Union on Saturday night. We got about half the class out which was fun! Beer and vodka was only £2 each!! Going back there some time soon!! Here are some photos of us. Never put photos up before so hope they aren't too big or anything! Oh we had a Radio 1 DJ playing for this too. He was a proper DJ mixing and stuff but he was totally useless!! But the night was good other then that!

This is us in the Courtyard (I think Scientific labeling has got the better of me btw) . From left to right is Petros, Clair, Paloa, Nastasia, Patricia, Wai-Mun, Charlotte, Brash, Sasha and me.

Another class photo at the disco part with the same people but also Carlos and Jo on the left.










     My Suunday was nice and lazy with just a visit into Canada Water to see Erin and have a chat. My week then started Monday and was nice and intense! We were on 10-4 every day except Wed (they have Wednesday's free for sports). They were revision lectures but good to do. Genetics, Immunology, Virology and Applications and methodology. We only had one crazy lady who asked questions and insisted on telling us about her 2 weddings, how she hates her first husband and pees red after eating beetroot! Thanks Dr. A Blakemore! It did get tiring towards the end of the week as they talked through topics so quickly that you couldn't take it in and it was hard to keep interested for so long. Oh oh oh!!! Wait for it!!  They start EVERY lecture on time here! As in if it starts at 10am it starts at 10am not 10:01 or even shock horror, 10:05am! But the worst part is that they don't even finish on time either. They have a scheduled 1 hour slot but all of them went over :( Okay Aine's moan is over. They kept cutting my lunch short and I love my food especially my tuna sandwich (right Andrea, Karolina and Deirdre)!  Today finished with a gym session with my crazy German friend, Charlotte, who has lots of stamina and energy. I was nearly dying but she will be a good motivator I'm sure!!
    Tuesday evening had us all (my class) meet at Oxford Street to have a few drinks and dinner at On Anon. That was fun as I've never had drinks on Oxford Street! Great class party place! We may try the local Wishing Well at East Acton though next time so we can stumble into the lectures after lunch instead!
  Heading up to Nottingham this weekend to see the lovely Daz and Karolina. Cannot wait!! We may have Dids along too depending on her homework. This weekend will bring back crazy stories I'm sure!! I hope! I have also booked my Bristol tickets to see Kate for her birthday! Whoop whoop!! Lesley is arriving next week on Thurs so that's pretty exciting!! I'm flying home on the 20th November for Roisin's birthday and the 19th December for Christmas. Can't wait to get home and see everyone and not have to listen to these crazy English!! :) They aren't too bad but I like me Irish!
   So think that's enough rambling for one blog. If any one ever wants to come to London I have a huge double bed and room with plenty of floor space so you're more then welcome! Ta ta for now!!

Well it's not Cork.....

Hey so never done this before so we'll see how it goes! Following in Andrea's foot steps and may write a blog for anyone that's interested. It will probably be boring as I really don't know what to say!! Here goes..


Moved over here the 13th with my Dad and sister coming along for the trip. I moved into a house in East Acton which is really lovely. I have the biggest room in the house and a double bed which makes a change! Lots more space if anyone wants to come visit. Spent the first week doing up the room and just having a bit of a holiday with my Dad ie. spending his money :) . They left then and let me fend for myself.


I live in a house with 3 other girls who are all working. Karen is from around Belfast and she is working in Theatre. Molly is in fashion and from Manchester I think....Kate then is in a graduate program in Advertising and is from Liverpool but studied in Manchester. They are really nice girls and we all seem to get on really well!!


The first 2 weeks were spent trying to get a bank loan then trying to get an overdraft and then when none of that worked crying. Only kidding but things were tough at first. There is so much to organise over here and they talk funny!! :) I got my phone all sorted though and my Boots card so from then on things got easier. Sean Proctor, Erin Luddy and Caitlin Collins are over here too but they are all east side so I don't see them that often. I need to lure them over here with Westfield and then they'll never leave!


Went up to Cambridge then last weekend to visit Dids and that was fun apart from the rain! It rained a lot but then we went out to a pub/club were they served wine on tap so everything got better as we started to get more drunk! That resulted in Dids' phone walking away from us ( I swear it did because it was most definitely there one minute and gone the next!) . Then Dids introduced me to Nando's and everything was right again! We got her bike sorted and met a really nice girl Gill who will take care of our Dids I think!


This week was the beginning of Uni (in with the lingo!). Met my class for a lunch on Monday and then got a formal introduction on Wednesday which included a fire and safety talk. I am now a proud owner of a card that hangs around my neck like every one else in London. I have a label! We have had classes since then including homework! Our lunch breaks include walking to Westfield in the sunshine and eating at Eat ( Charlottes favourite food place here!). Big postgrad mingle night tomorrow at the Union in South Ken. Dids may be coming down to visit tomorrow so we'll see about that. Other then that, it's hot and then raining, so very like home. The course doesn't seem to be too demanding yet but I'll know come Friday morning when my 5th 10am class begins (I know only 10am but it's been a long Summer!!). Slan go foil and hope everyone is well where ever we may be scattered!!


Aine