My cousin Melissa and her boyfriend Brett have also arrived in London and we have had a few drinking sessions with them and most excitingly, they recently got engaged while being over here. Yay! Congratulations to them :-) James and I have also been working amongst all the excitement and just today I woke up with my worse nightmare, tonsillitis, and had to call in sick to work. Poor me :-( My other cousin, James is living over here too now, so we've been able to catch up with him quite a bit lately too, which has been great.
Projekt Revolution:
James landed Nik and himself some random work, putting up skateboard ramps for a company called Eastpak which BMX riders and skateboarders use to give demos at music festivals. For doing this, they managed to get 100 pounds each, free accommodation for 2 nights near the venue, all three of us free VIP tickets and on top of that, free merchandise such as a jacket for me and shirts for them. Pretty cool.
The festival was located at a venue called 'The National Bowl' north west of London in a place called Milton Keynes. At the festival Jay-Z, Linkin Park, Pendulum and a few other bands played. We had a great time out in the countryside and the weather was so nice we all even managed to get a little sunburnt. Oops.
Hilltop Hoods:
Mid week we went to see the Australian hip hop band, 'Hilltop Hoods' at a place called the Carling Academy in Angel, which is pretty close to our house in Camden. Because the venue was so small, we were pretty close to the front and anyone of a 'normal' height would have been able to see very well (Nik and James really do take their height for granted). Sometimes, I managed to sneak a peak through the gaps of tall, sweaty people standing in front of me and when James was feeling extra nice, he would lift me up.
After making us wait nearly 2 hours for them to come out, the Hoods did put on a show well worth waiting for. What can I say??? They were awesome! There were so many Australian fans there... I don't think I've ever seen so many Australians in the one spot, ever.
Melissa and Brett's Visit:
The first time we planned to see Mel and Brett, I was very excited. We decided to meet at a pub called 'The Nags Head' in Angel. We had a few too many drinks that night, but luckily none of us had to work the next day.
At one stage, poor Mel copped an old, tin drink tray in the head (compliments of Brett) and while on the way home, James decided he'd try to drive a digger thingy and then have a sleep at a bus stop. Luckily, some of us remained responsible enough to get us all home safely! We all managed to get up at a reasonable hour the next morning, as we had plans to watch the State of Origin at an Aussie pub called 'Walkabout', at 10:30 am. Unfortunately, there were a lot of Queensland supporters surrounding us, and no matter how often and how loud James screamed at the television, ordering instructions and offering his opinions, the cockroaches still managed to be defeated :-( We all then went to London's Chinatown and had a nice lunch.
Two nights later we met in Brick Lane for dinner and drinks with Melissa, Brett, my cousin James, Brett's sister and boyfriend and Melissa's good friend, Dale from Muswellbrook High, and his girlfriend Zoe. It was at a bar, this night, called 'The Big Chill' that Melissa and Brett announced their engagement! So, we popped a bottle of moet and celebrated... as you do. CONGRATULATIONS MEL AND BRETT!
We then headed to an Indian restaurant for dinner where Melissa managed to pilfer two bottles of alcohol from behind the bar!!! Yes, I couldn't believe it either. She was so good at it though, that I, who was sitting at the same table as her, facing the bar, didn't even see her do it! All in all, it was a very, very funny night and we all had a great time celebrating the engagement and taking photos of Melissa's beautiful diamond ring :-)
Will write again soon, Love Leah and James x x x
