Melbourne, we're back!

I know I'm due to write a huge post on St. Lucia and things you absolutely have to do if you ever go there but whilst that is in the process of being written I thought I would give you all a little update.

On Wednesday 8th August the boy and I set off to Heathrow Airport accompanied by my parents and boarded a flight to Melbourne on a one way ticket.  This is my new home - yikes!

A little background on the situation: I originally moved to Melbourne in September 2009 for (a different) Australian boy.  After almost two years of long distance and therefore much anticipation, things did not quite go to plan with that relationship and five months after arriving I found myself newly single and halfway across the world from all my friends and family.  Sadly the end of the relationship coincided (to the day) of my grandmother's death.  I headed home for the funeral and got my head together.  Instead of wallowing in self pity and staying home to lick my wounds I came back to Melbourne to see out my visa (much to the annoyance of the ex, I'm sure [in fact I believe "Melbourne is my city, not yours" was a phrase that was used during one conversation about my return].) and partied like I'd never partied before.  Enter Aussie boy number two:

This relationship, however, was not to be a "happy ever after" for me either (yet)!  

Due to the difficulties of being in a relationship where two different nationalities are involved I had to head home for a few months whilst the boy holidayed in Thailand with his friends (that was easy!).  I found my way back to him but it was very difficult not being allowed to work and having to leave the country every three months - especially without knowing if I'd be let back in every time I returned to Australia.  Eventually we found ourselves living in London and preparing for our "Offshore Temporary Partner Visa" (on the basis of a de facto relationship) so that I could return to Melbourne with full working rights and finally live "happily ever after".  Hundreds of pages (I'm not joking my application was honestly about two inches thick) and thousands of dollars later I have ended up in Melbourne.  

The journey is not over yet as I am still a tourist and have not been granted the visa.  However, it should be granted between October 10th and November 11th (grants take 5-6 months and we only applied in May).  This does leave me at a slightly loose end because I still cannot work so I spend my days trying to think of fulfilling ways to fill up my time.  I feel like Hugh Grant in About a Boy...

"I find the key is to think of a day as units of time, each unit consisting of no more than thirty minutes. Full hours can be a little bit intimidating and most activities take about half an hour. Taking a bath: one unit, watching countdown: one unit, web-based research: two units, exercising: three units, having my hair carefully disheveled: four units. It's amazing how the day fills up, and I often wonder, to be absolutely honest, if I'd ever have time for a job; how do people cram them in?"

Except unlike Hugh Grant I don't have the joys of English day time television to keep me occupied (honestly Australian day time TV is incredibly boring and full of adverts/infomercials).  If only I had a Roberta-Flack-singing-bobble-hat-wearing young boy to buy trainers and offensive rap music for.

Anyone have any ideas of things I can do (preferably non-expensive ideas so I don't have to spend my boys hard earned cash!)??

I hate London

Ok, huge exaggeration in the title there but my gosh I am slowly but surely getting over this place!  Don't get me wrong London has SO much to offer and so much more than one is able to discover in a year or two years or probably even ten, but that is probably where my problem lies with the place;  It is just SO big and SO overpopulated.  

London has always been the closest city to my home town.  I have lived in a lot of different cities in my life - Hong Kong, Riyadh, Aberdeen, Melbourne and now London and nothing infuriates me more than this place.  I feel extremely guilty by disliking the one place in the world that should feel like home but I just can't handle constantly being surrounded by people ALL THE FREAKING TIME.  Literally getting pushed and shoved about the whole way to work and the whole way home... and I don't even travel in the middle of rush hour!  I don't sit down from the moment I get out of bed until the moment I get back to my humble abode.  I have grown men as old as my father barging me out of the way so they can get the last seat on the tube...where has chivalry gone?  Or not even chivalry but basic, decent, good manners?  Who are these people that are happy to have a pregnant lady stand the whole way home so they can have a seat when all they do all day is SIT at a desk?!  My gosh!!!!

I miss Melbourne a lot.  When I was in Melbourne there were certainly things I missed about home but everything over there just seems so much easier (the 50% pay rise also helps, I won't lie!).  I had an absolutely gorgeous apartment 10 minutes from the city centre.  This apartment came with a pool, a gym, undercover parking, a balcony and my own bathroom.  I had a little pet cat running around (who used to ruin everything if I'm completely honest but I absolutely love her and she is beautiful), I had an absolutely amazing king size bed and a huge double built-in wardrobe all to myself.  I used to come home and smile at how lucky I was, I never wanted to leave the place!  Now let's do a cinematic pan across the world and zoom into my life now;  my boyfriend and I live in a share house with 11 (yes, 11) other people, none of whom we know.  We share a tiny king size single bed, a tiny kitchen with the most horrendous appliances, a tiny wet room (yes not even a bathroom it is a wet room) and a loo.  There are about three or four wet rooms and three or four loos in the house, but still... this is not ideal at all.  If I'm honest this living arrangement has a lot to do with my dislike for London.  If I came home to my Melbournian flat in London, a little oasis of calm away from the hustle and bustle of the city surrounding me, I am sure I would have nothing to complain about, but right now I absolutely cannot WAIT to escape this place.  I feel London has a tendency to be glamourised by the people who live in it.  Yes, it is an absolutely amazing city to play in but as for working 9-5 (or 8-10 as the case may be for me some times) it is less than ideal.

Anyway, apologies dear readers, rant over!

So, I hear you ask, what have I been up to since I last wrote?

This weekend my parents very kindly took the boy and I to the rugby sevens finals at Twickenham.  Due to growing up in Hong Kong I have a deep, engrained love for the sevens.  It is in my blood (albeit I don't particularly understand the rules but nevertheless, I definitely enjoy it!).  It was a really lovely day.  The sun was out, the food and drinks were flowing and I was surrounded by people I love.  The perfect end to the weekend!

I have not written for a while and that's because I have been very focused on... exercise!  Yes, there, I said it!  With a Caribbean holiday on the horizon in July I have been trying desperately to get into shape.  So far I have managed to squeeze in 30 minutes of exercise every day this week (one of these sessions actually required me to get out of bed at 5.45am - I could not be more proud of myself!).

On Tuesday evening I got home and was feeling particularly frustrated about the aforementioned problems I have with London and so last night my lovely boy decided to take me out on a little date to Belgo, on Clapham High Street.  To sum up what this place is about I only need to use two words: mussels and beer.  It was a wonderful treat.  The boy and I opted for the "Bread Tin Aioli" to start and the melted gruyère cheese & leek croquettes, which were accompanied by a spiced beer chutney - delicious.  I then had the "Moules snob" which in plain English were a steaming pot of mussels in a lobster, champagne and cream bisque with fries.  My tummy could not have been happier.

In other news things are going quite swimmingly with my visa application.  My case officer (who can only be referred to as PS) has requested I get my medical check done so I am all booked into the Knightsbridge clinic for my x-ray and blood and urine test (who knows why they actually need this information) next Wednesday.... There goes another £270...  But on a happier note I am that much closer to being allowed to move back to Melbourne :)

I'm off to Surrey this weekend for my dad's birthday.  Yay for getting out of London!  (P.S. it's really not that bad at all I have just had enough of my current situation... don't hate me Londoners!).

Just to prove that I am not always a miserable pessimist and that I do know how to be happy and smile....

Enjoy the rest of your week lovely bloggers. xxx