Planet Earth

BBC has put together an amazing program called Planet Earth. We just watched the episode entitled from Pole to Pole, and it was amazing. For those who like Monkeys, penquins, polar bears or animals from the desert, there is some amazing footage!

Christmas Tree

This is our first Christmas Tree in London. One of Christine's coworkers kindly loaned us some ornaments, and we purchased the tree at a local grocery store.

It perfect for our needs, and makes it feel quite festive.

Dublin city centre

It was a bit chilly, but we had our warm jackets, so we managed to stay warm.

Another time we'll take a horse drawn carriage.

we were on our way into the city centre to do some christmas shopping. we were sipping coffee at a local cafe and found a department store called Penny's which sells day to day neccessities at a bargain.

Dublin - Saint Stephens Green

Brooks about to attempt to throw me in the water... nice guy. = )

Dublin - Scenery

This photo shows the giant needle coming up from Dublin. It is located on one of the major shopping streets, and definitely sticks out from its surrounding.

We walked up this main strip and also walked around a bit of central Dublin.

Dublin

Last weekend Christine and I flew to Dublin to visit Brooks, who had just finished his exams. It was great seeing him, and meeting a couple of his roommates. This photo is in a pub called Mulligans, which is one of the older pubs in Dublin.

After going to the pub, we went back to Brooks' place and watched the Toronto Maple Leafs win 9 -2. Not very Irish, but we had a great time.

Postbank Dinner

Last night Christine and I went to my work Christmas party at the Sofitel St James Hotel. It was a great evening, and Christine looked stunning!

During the evening, there was a raffle, and I was fortuante to win the big prize! It is a Christmas hamper from a gourmet grocer that will be delivered to our home later this week.

One thing we learned from the evening was to never take a cab into central London on a Saturday evening, as the journey took 1 1/2 hours (tube would have taken 45 minutes).

Blackrock Tennis

Yesturday, I was fortunate to get invited to see the Blackrock Masters tennis series. The lawyers that we regularly use had rented out a corporate box. The Royal Albert Hall is a great venue, and I couldn't believe a full tennis court fit in it. All and all, a great experience!

Pedestrianisation of Oxford and Regent Streets

On Saturday we met Neal and Sarah by Oxford Circus. This was a one day event, where both Oxford Street and Regent Street were closed to traffic. I understand that they have close Oxford Street previously, but never both streets. It was absolutely packed! However, because there was more space to walk, it was actually quite pleasant. There were street performers, acrobatics attached to big helium balloons, and santa!

All and all, it was a good experience. We didn't get any shopping done (way too busy), but well worth visiting.

High Tea

On the Wednesday in Toronto, we went to high tea with my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Roger. It was nice catching up and spending time with them. The high tea at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Yorkville was very nice.

After that, we had to run around and run some errands prior to meeting up with a group of people at the Bedford Academy.

Toronto Trip

Christine and I were in Toronto from November 14th to the 21st. It was a whirl wind trip, in which we got a chance to see many people. The highlights included having dim sum with my dad, staying at Nigel's great new place, going to Santa Clause parade with Shawn, Paula & Anthony (even though we actually missed the parade!), going to High Tea with my aunt & uncle, going shopping with Christine (things seem so much cheaper in Toronto - Compared to London that is!), Shawn and Caroline's wedding, and seeing all our friends.

Next time we'll definitely stay for a longer duration, but it was great seeing everyone, and thanks to all for taking the time to meet up. It meant a lot, and it was great seeing everyone.

Nigel & Christine

This is my cousin Nigel andChristine. The night we flew out we had a great steak dinner at my Aunt Margeret and Uncle Roger's house. It was a nice and relaxing way to end our super hectic trip. Thank you!

And thank you to Nigel for giving us such a comfortable place to stay whilst in Toronto.

Christine and my Dad

We've been back in London for a week and a half now, and I've been super busy and haven't got to post any of the Toronto photos.

The trip was a whirl wind, and I think we learned a valuable lesson. Do not fly to a country that has a 5 hour time difference for only 6 days. We were exhausted by the end of it, but it was great seeing everyone.

This is a photo of Christine with my dad when we went for dim sum at Rol San.

Keane at Alexandra Palace

On October 27th, I went to see Keane at Alexandra Palace in London. I went with Neal and Sarah, and their former land lady (Christine had to work late). We drove there, which was nice, as it seemed to be in the middle of a forest. The concert was pretty good, but the traffic getting out of the venue was pretty painful.

Barcelona Photos

I'm trying something new, and I've uploaded some of the photos we took in Barcelona.

Hopefully this works!

Borough Market

We were going through our photos, and found a couple more photos of Borough Market.

Canary Wharf - Dim Sum Day

Last Sunday Christine and I went for Dim Sum by Canary Wharf. It is only a ten minute walk from home. I thought I was clever and changed the clocks forward the night before. We got up and went for Dim Sum at 11am. Only to find out, that you're meant to turn the clocks backward... Ooops... Sorry Christine. = )

We waited for an hour before it opened, hence the photo outside... killed some time. At least it was a nice day.

That is the River Thames in the background, looking towards the city.

Arsenal Football

So, I was lucky enough to go to my second game on Thursday. It was a Chapions League game again CSKA Moscow. It ended up being a nil-nil draw, but not due to lack of trying! Arsenal had at least five chances, where the goalie had been passed, but they missed the net. Crazy! All and all a good game. It was a great!

New Flat - Canary Wharf

Christine and I moved into our new flat on October 17th. This photo is of our living room/dining area. Neal and Sarah came over for dinner, and they were our first dinner guests.

It is a two bedroom flat, so if you are coming to London, let us know!

We'll post some more photos soon!

Finally Connected!

We finally have our Internet cnonected at home! BT was great (a bit more expensive), but we have now have a home line and wireless internet. More photos etc to be posted shortly!

New Flat - Canary Wharf

We have found a new flat! It is close to Canary Wharf, so Christine can walk to work. I will have a short commute to Bank tube station, taking the DLR, which will be nicer than taking the District tube line. This is a picture of the lounge from the on-line posting.

It is a 2 bedroom flat, so now we have a proper room for visitors!

Cathryn & Chris in London

Yesturday, Cathryn and Chris came over for dinner. This is there last stop on their trip through Europe. It was great seeing them, and Christine made a delicious meal.

Next up... the move! Next Thursday is moving day, and we finally received a draft of the lease yesturday.

Borough Market - Food for dinner

For dinner, Christine made Mr. Yuen's (Christine's dad) Kind Prawn recipe. Its a ketchup sauce and its delicious!

Borough Market

Today Christine and I went to Borough Market. We had heard a lot of good things about it, and we were not disappointed. It is a food market, and you can get all sorts of food. We had a good lunch and purchased fresh food to make dinner at home.

Oxford - Keble College

On Thursday, the day after returning from Barcelona, I had a black tie dinner at Oxford with work. We stayed in the dormitory for Keble College. The college was built in 1868, which is one of the newer colleges at Oxford. The left photo is of the Chapel, and the right photo is of the dining hall where we ate. Apparently the Harry Potter producers approached this college first, to film the dining hall scenes. It ended up being filmed at another one of the colleges on campus.

Barcelona - Park Guell

This is a picture at the front of Park Guel. Apparently Gaudi had something like 12 years to design elements of this park. He had coplete discretion, and there are some really strange/interesting areas. This is the famous lizard by the entrance to the park.

Barcelona - The Beach!

We totally lucked out with the weather. It was sunny and about 27 degrees celcius each day. We managed to go to the beach on two of the days, and I finally swam in the Mediterranean Sea. The only day it rained was the first day, where Christine went to bed early, I went for a walk. I stumbled upon a big fireworks display by the water (it was a major week long festival that week), and I ended up getting soaked!

Barcelona - Sagrada Familia

This is Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Church/Cathedral. It is still under contruction, which is pretty amazing considering it commenced in 1882. Its meant to be completed 2041.

Barcelona

Cristal Palace Hotel was great! This photo is of our hotel suite. We didn't expect it to be this nice. I think they may have actually bumped us, as there were two bathrooms, and two floors. Really Nice!

Barcelona, here we come!

This Saturday, September 23rd (which happens to be my brother's 30th Birthday), Christine and I are going on our first real trip since arriving in London. We are going to Barcelona for 4 nights. We can't wait! We will be staying at a hotel called Cristal Palace. We'll bring a camera, so photos will be posted shortly thereafter.

Prank #2

I think this one is funnier than the first!

Goodwood Revival

A couple of weeks ago, I (Kevin) was lucky enough to get invited to the Goodwood Revival by one of the lawyers we work with. The lawyer who invited me, picked me up at the train station driving this circ 1960 Volvo. It was in great shape and made for a good start to the day. At the show, you walk around checking out all of the old cars, and throughout the day there are races going on (with the old cars racing!). Hard day at the office!

Funny Prank

Thought this prank was pretty funny. Enjoy!

Christine's work in Canary Wharf, London

This photo was taken on a hazey day but if you look closely, the tall building on the left is HSBC's headquarters. Kevin and I are thinking of moving closer to the area, Canary Wharf in order for me to avoid crowds on the tube during rush hour.

Royal Crescent - Bath

This is us infront of the Royal Crescent in Bath. These were all built in the 18th century (I think...). The gardens/fields in front of them are beautiful!

Roman Bath

This is a picture at the Roman Baths, with the Abbey in behind. It was a super relaxing weekend, and we stayed at Brock's Bed and Breakfast.

Bath

Last weekend Christine and I went to Bath with Neal and Sarah for the Bank Holiday weekend. It was Sarah's birthday on the Monday. This is the new Thermae Bath Spa. Its is brand new, and surrounded by histtory on all sides. You can see the surrounding hills in the picture.

Arsenal Football

Last night Christine and I were both at the Arsenal match. Crhistine was in the HSBC box with some of her colleagues, and I was with a client. It was the first win for Arsenal at their new stadium. The place is huge, and it was an amazing expierience. Over 58,000 people were at the game. Arsenal was down 1 - nil at half, but came back and beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-1. Getting home was a bit difficulat as one of the tube lines had severe delays, but we managed to get home eventually.

Proms at Royal Albert

Last night Christine and I went to the PROMS at the Royal Albert Hall (see picture). We went with one of Chrsitine's coworkers and some of his friends. They were all really nice, and we went for some Chinese Food in China town afterwards. The concert was Symphy Orchistra from Budapest. Christine enjoyed the last song, which was upbeat and fun. The second last song was my favorite, as it was more intense and I found, engaging. All and all, we had a good time. I can't see us going again any time soon, but it was definitely worth going to see inside the Hall.

One question, what does the conductor really do? I know... keeps the beat etc... however he does look quite funny waving his magical wand.

Parking 101 - Be careful of Pigeons

We found this to be quite amusing... all the other cars are clean... but this one was parked under the tree of pigeons. = )

Hannah in Shades

A couple of weeks ago, we had Lianne, Justin, Graham, Ali and baby Hannah over for brunch. Christine and I introduced them to slow cooked ribs (we bought a slow cooker). They turned out pretty good (we miss the Canadian BBQ sauce selection).

This is Hannah trying on Uncle Justin's sunglasses.

Greenwich

Christine and I are thinking of moving closer to her work. An area that we are considering is Greenwich. If that happens, you will all be able to set your clocks to us. Instead of Greenwich meantime it will be Kevin and Christine's time. =)

This is Christine by Cutty Sark. Greenwich has a town feel and is only about a 10 minutes DLR ride into Canary Wharf, where Christine works.

Hamstead Heath

This is Christine with Sarah & Neal at Hamstead Heath. If you have ever seen Notting Hill, the movie (not that I'll admit to seeing it), the building may be familiar. Its a huge park that is really nice to walk through. After the walkwe went to a pub called Spaniards Inn, which had a large patio and a BBQ. Delicious!

Feeding Swans in Kensington Park

This is Christine feeding the swans. It was a beautiful day, and we spent a couple of hours relaxing in the park. We brought some stale bread from home and fed the swans & ducks (tried to avoid those pesky pigeons).

Hugh & Hils in Andover

In June, Christine and I were fortunate enough to visit Hugh & Hils (Hugh is my Uncle's Nephew) at there place in the country. Unfortuantely, it was the weekend that Brooks and Claire came to visit and we had planned previously to watch a football match with them, so we had to leave a bit early.

It was wonderiful to meet their beautiful children and see the amazing countryside. Parts of the house are over 600 years old! amazing!

Roger and Margeret (my Aunt and Uncle) from Toronto were also there, and they kindly brought us a suitcase of stuff from Toronto. Thank you again for doing that!

Christine's Birthday

On the Sunday following Christine's birthday, our friends Neal & Sarah came over, as well as Christine's cousin Carmen. We had lots of finger food and had a good time. This is a picture of Christine opening her presents.

Christine is on the left, Sarah in the middle, and Carmen on the right (for those who do not know).

Brooks & Claire Visit

Brooks (my highschool buddy) and Claire came to visit in June. They were our first house guests. Timing wise, it worked out well as there was an England World Cup match on the weekend they were here. I went to a pub with Brooks and Jed (his brother) to watch the match... England won!

This photo is of them having some pints and Pimms by the Thames.

Electronic Gadgets

To make ourselves a bit more at home, we decided to get a TV and small speaker system. The TV is a 26 inch LCD (cheap brand, but we're really happy with it), and the Nano Ipod holder. The speaker system is really good, and we would recommend it to anyone who is looking for one. Interestly, the place that sold it the cheapest (that we could find) was Harrods.