Visit to Guildford

Boxing Day
On Boxing day, Christine and I went over the Justin and Lianne's (my cousin) house in Guildford. Uncle John and Aunte Carole were also visiting, and Graham and Ali also came over with their daughter Hannah. We had a lovely evenining, and Justin and Lianne seemed very happy, and less tired than we expected (baby Abigail was just over 2 weeks old!). We stayed over and took the train straight to work in the morning.

Christmas in London

Christine and I cooked a feast for Christmas this year. Christine's friend from work Stephanie joined us, and we had a roast chicken, ham, mashed potatos, brussel sprouts (yucky, but traditional), and pie for dessert. It was nice and relaxing day. In london, the tube and buses do not run, so without a car, we didn't have much option but to be at home and go for walk in the park. This a picture of our Christmas tree, and us at the dinner table.

Berlin Trip

On the first weekend in December, Christine and I went to Berlin to get into the festive spirit at the Christmas Markets. Neal and Sarah flew in earlier in the day on Friday, and then Christine and I flew in later that night. The weather was super cold, but we stayed at a nice hotel (Radisson SAS Hotel) and ended up having a nice trip. The Chrsitmas markets were very festive, and the historic significance of the City makes it a very worthwhile trip. All and all, a good trip! Its amzing how its only a couple of hours away.

Fireworks - Guy Fawkes

We went to the Guy Fawkes fireworks at Blackheath (near Greenwich) just 15 min. walk from our house. It was amazing.. not too cold and the sky was clear that night.

History of Guy Fawkes can be found by clicking the following URL
http://www.bonefire.org/guy/index.php

Koji's Shabu Shabu

Steam boat (hot pot) at Koji's Shabu Shabu. Recommended by a local. The beef was amazing and we only had to wait for a table for 15 minutes. (not bad for a tourist area).

Universal Studios

We were grateful for such sunny weather throughout the entire trip! Universal Studios was a lot of fun!

Day 1 in Hollywood

First day in Hollywood, LA. This photo was taken with Kevin standing in front of the Chinese Theatre located across from Jimmy Kimmel's Live studio.

Royal Naval College at Greenwich

We had a lovely Sunday afternoon walking along the River Thames and passed by the Royal Naval College at Greenwich. This used to be Greenwich Hospital and also the birthplace of Elizabeth I.

The fireplace

We bought some little plants to put around the fireplace. We got them from our local grocer, Sainsbury's supermarket for only GBP50 pence (that's CAD$1.00) Quite a bargain! I hope we will know how to take care of them and keep them alive for at least a year.

Funny wine bottle holder

We received many bottles of wine from our house guests and Kevin tried using the funny wine bottle holder that was left behind by our Landlady.

Greenwich Market

Christine found this cute little booth that sells handmade 3-D cards. Oh dear, the postage to send this overseas will be like a mini parcel. They are cute but quite expensive.

Greenwich House

During their stay, we took possession of our new house in Greenwich. As a house warming gift, they gave us two rose bushes, which they are planting in the picture. the other picture is at Greenwich park, which is a five minutes walk from our home.

Yuen London Visit

This is Christine's parents at St. Pauls and Borough Market. Overall, it was a great visit, and it was nice having them stay with us.

Paris Trip

Chrstine's parents came to visit us for a couple of weeks in July. Unfortuantely, I was not able to take much time off of work, but Chrstine managed to take time off and was able to taken them around the London sites. I did get a long weekend during their stay, and we went to Paris for three nights. It was a great trip, and we all really enjoyed it.

CFA

Yesturday the results were released for Level 3 (the final level) of the CFA program. I am happy to say that I have passed the exam, and once I register and my work experience has been confirmed, I will have three little letters after my name! Thank you to all for being supportive over these years. I look forward to having a free spring and not studying!

Greenwich House

The house is 2 bedrooms, located close to Maze Hill train station. I can't wait for our first BBQ!

Moving to Greenwich

We have signed a new lease, and are moving to Greenwich! We are super excited, as the property has a large private garden at the rear.

The Stedmann boys

This photo was taken at Kevin's previous home 59 Spadina Rd. Here are all the Stedmann boys! Anthony (2nd from the left) is not a little boy anymore. He's all grown up now!

A day at Hampstead Heath

A day at the park, Hampstead Heath with Sarah and Neal. There was a fun fair going on today. Kevin was having fun tossing the frizbie around.

Bank holiday weekend in Bath May 07

Looking out from our suite at the Paradise Hotel in Bath. It's an amazing view up here! We were lucky to have such sunny weather.

Sunny days - April 15th Weekend

The weekend of April 15th was absolutlely gorgeous. I spent the Saturday studying (pretty much all day), but then on Sunday I studied for a couple of hours in the morning, and then wanted to enjoy the weather. It was one of Christine's work friends last day in London (Eirik - he moved to Norway the following Monday), so we wanted to meet up with him. We had dim sum at a place by the water with Eirik and Andrew (another friend from Christine's work), and then went to Greenwich. I decided I wanted to try to fly a kite, so we purchased a kite in the market and went to the park. Unfortuantley, it wasn't windy enough, so I didn't try it. Christine did though! She gave it a valiant effort, but I think it stayed up mostly due to Christine running around. We ended the day by have dinner and a pint by the water (picture above). All and all, a great day.

Eirik

Dutch Navy in London

About a month ago, Christine and I were walking home and saw a massive sail boat. We walked up to it, and asked the guy standing guard about the ship. Turns out that it was a Dutch Navy training ship, and they were in the Docklands for a couple of days on route back to their home. To our surprise, they asked if we wanted to come on board to have a look. We took them up on the offer, and this sailor took us around. He was super nice, and it was a great experience. The ship was in perfect condition (due to the hours of care spent on the ship each day - as our sailor friend told us), and it was a great experience.

London Update

Its been a busy couple of weeks for Christine and me. A couple of Chrsitine's coworkers decided to quit after bonus time, which means that things have been super busy for her until the new replacements start.

As for me, its getting close to crunch time for the CFA. June 2nd is the day, and with any luck, I can forget about these exams for a loooong time... so, between now and then, my spare time is limited. Thus far, I try to study every weekend morning for a couple of hours, and then do something relaxing with Chrsitine in the afternoon. The weather has been great, so its been tough to get focused on studying later in the days.

Greenwich Mean Time

One of our favorite areas that we have discovered to spend a lazy weekend day is Greenwich. The market is nice, and then there is a beautiful park which you can relax and watch time pass... and if you want to literally watch time pass, you can head up the hill to the Greenwich Mean Time exhibit, the start of time! well, sort of.

British Museum Library

The British Museum is massive and we will need to come back to finish looking at other exhibits. this time, we only got to see some of the Egyptian exhibits and some roman statues. Here, I took a photo with the Reading Room behind me. it's a real reference library in the shape of a circle. it's very beautiful inside. we will have to come back again.

Chinese New Year

Gong Hei Fat Choi, or in other words, we wish you a properous year of the pig.

On Sunday February 18 it was Chinese New Year and Christine and I decided to go down to China Town to see the festivities.

It was absolutley packed, but we had a good time. We found a spot in corner, and the Lion Dancers came right by us.

Belgium Treats

Belgium is known for its wide seleciton of beers, and also the food. Leffe has always been one of my favorite beers, so when in Belgium... why not? Christine and I also had to try some of the chocolate whilst in Belgium, so why not a Crepe with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce? Delicious!

Brugge - Night time

In the evenings, the canals are lit up. It is really pretty to walk along, and it feels very safe.

One of the days we were there, we decided to have a trip into Brussels. We took the train, and then went on a site seeing bus to see the sites. Parts of the city were nice, but I was glad we stayed in Brugge.

Bicyclists in Brugge

In Brugge, it seems that the most popular mode of transport was the bike. People of every age were cycling around town, and as pedestrians, you always had to watch out for them.

Brugge

January was our 5 year anniversay and we decided to take a week holiday and go to Brugge, Belgium for 4 days. Its a gorgeous city/town with canals running through it. Next time we'd probably go in the summer and take a boat trip, but it was a relaxing couple of days.

Tower of London skating

A couple of days before Chrstmas we decided to have a night skate at the Tower of London. The idea was great, and the setting was pretty impressive (it was in the moat at the Tower of London), but the skating itself wasn't quite up to the standards of Canadina skating. The skates were all hard platic (and moist when you put your foot in), and the ice wasn't quite up to the Canadian winter quality. Overall, a good experience, but I don't think we'd rush back.

Christmas Eve at St Pauls

On Christmas Eve, Christine and I went to St. Pauls for the 4 o'clock carol service. Unfortunately, we were not alone in thinking this would be a fun thing to do. For when we showed up, there were probably a thousand people in the queue, and it was already completely full. We'll have to show up a bit earlier next year!

We are engaged!

On Christmas morning Christine made me the happiest person in the world! We got engaged and then spent the rest of the day sharing our good news with family. As requested, here is a picture of the ring. = )