kimbofo

The Heathrow injection

Ten years ago, as I was plotting and planning my backpacking adventure to the UK, several people warned me about the "Heathrow injection". This is a euphemism for getting fat based on a lifestyle of British beer and stodgy foods. (Ben Groundwater, writing on The Age travel blog, calls it the "Heathrow spread" and writes about the subject as if he is the first to ever discover it. I'm pleased to see some people have put him right in the comments.)

Given I was a little on the chubby side at the time, I didn't think I had much to worry about: I couldn't possibly get any fatter.

And I didn't.

At least for the next year or so.

In fact, I lost more than a stone over the first three months of my stay, mainly because I was hauling around a heavy backpack, up and down the country, to London and Scotland and back again. And because I was watching my pennies, I wasn't buying as much food as I might have liked.

It was only when I settled down in London, got myself a proper job and acquired a "man friend", that the weight piled on again. But for almost 18 months I was a rather slim size 10.

A steady diet of nightly pints -- mainly Guinness but I do have a penchant for English ale too -- meant my weight rose gradually to my current (healthy) size 14. Over the past eight or so years, it's fluctuated slightly, tipping size 16 at times, dipping down to size 12 at others. But on the whole I'm probably the same size I was when I left Australia all those years ago. (I figure this is my "natural" weight,  because even when I do vast amounts of cycling my size stays the same although my muscles become very toned and I lose a little bit of flab from around my waist.)

Do I believe in the Heathrow injection? I'm not sure. I don't think the British diet is any less healthy than an Australian one. But the cold, wet weather does make it very conducive to sitting in pubs drinking fattening beer -- and even when it's sunny there's nothing finer than an English beer garden! But I could probably say the same about Oz, couldn't I?

Last round on the underground

Thanks to new London mayor Boris Johnson as of today it is now illegal to drink alcohol on London's public transport system.

Last night thousands of Londoner's marked the end of drinking on the tube by holding a party on the Circle Line.

Personally, I have to say the policy seems a little short-sighted and does little to tackle the wider issue of binge drinking and associated violence. In my almost 10 years of travelling on London's tubes and buses I have never seen any threatening behaviour as the result of people openly drinking alcohol. But if you wander down almost any High Street in England on a Friday or Saturday night, chances are you will see people who are a danger to themselves and others as a result of too much drink.

In my humble opinion, BoJo would be better off banning the drinking of alcohol above ground -- on the streets -- than underground.

Charlie Chaplin statue in Leicester Square

Place: Leicester Square, West End, London.
Date: Monday May 26, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

The weather last weekend was rather diabolical, even by London standards, although I'm not sure why I was so surprised: it was a Bank Holiday weekend after all.

On the Monday we headed into the West End, primarily to see a photographic exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, but later to see the new Indiana Jones film at the Odeon in Leicester Square. I may not believe in hell, but if I did it would have the look and feel of Leicester Square on a busy weekend: I loathe the place. But on Monday, with all the rain barelling down (the equivalent of a month's worth of rain in a day, if the news reports are to be believed), the area, normally bumper to bumper with dozy, go-slow tourists, was relatively empty. In between showers we were able to wander around and fully explore the green square and it is here we came upon this little statue of Charlie Chaplin.

The inscription beneath the statue reads "The comic genius who gave pleasure to so many". Altogether now, say "aaahhhh".

The Kyoto Garden

Place: Kyoto Garden, Holland Park, London.
Date: May 4, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

My sister, brother-in-law and three-year-old niece are in town, so I am taking the week off work to spend some time with them and do some sight-seeing.

Yesterday we took a walk to Holland Park, a gorgeous oasis of green, just off Kensington High Street. I have strolled through this park countless times -- indeed when I first landed in London, back in the summer of 1998, I based myself at the Holland Park Youth Hostel for a few weeks while I looked for permanent accommodation. Despite this, I never really knew about the Kyoto Gardens until a few weeks ago when I read about it on someone else's blog! Talk about one of London's best kept secrets.

The Kyoto Garden is a medium-sized pond and waterfall garden which was opened in 1991 to celebrate the Japanese Festival. It's lovely and peaceful, although the signs warning people that it is a "garden for quiet reflection" seems to have been much ignored judging by the amount of people wandering through it willy nilly yesterday afternoon. Still, now I know it's there, I'll make a point of visiting when it's not likely to be particularly busy --  so that'll be 8am one weekday morning, then!

BoJo is the new mayor

I woke up on Saturday morning and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Unfortunately my prediction came true: London mayor Ken Livingstone was ousted by Boris Johnson.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Election day

I've just cast my vote in the London mayoral elections.

If you believe the media hype it's a two-way tussle between current mayor Ken Livingstone and Tory party candidate Boris Johnson.

Apparently the result won't be known until tomorrow, but if bumbling Boris gets in I won't be happy.

PS. I am without a broadband internet connection at home hence the lack of recent posts. This one is being brought to you courtesy of my Blackberry handset.

Coloured houses in Notting Hill

Place: Farm Place, Notting Hill.
Date: Sunday, February 3, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

If I had a spare £1 million I might just buy one of these very cute terraced houses in an area of Notting Hill dubbed "Hillgate".  It's a little hidden enclave of six or seven streets sandwiched between Campden Hill Road, Kensington Church Street and Notting Hill Gate.

The Long Way Down office

Place: Avonmore Road, West Kensington.
Date: Sunday, February 3, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

Cabin fever took hold this afternoon, so braving the chill winds we decided to go for a walk around the neighbourhood.

As we wandered the back streets of West Kensington, I mentioned to T that "Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman had their office around here somewhere".

"Really?"

"Yes, Avonmore Road -- it was mentioned in the Long Way Down book."

Sure enough, there it was -- a chequered flag and a Union flag painted over the garage door. Just to be sure, the discrete handwritten note on the doorbell read "Long Way Down office".

To think that Ewan and Charley used to hang out here, less than a 10-minute walk from our front door and literally around the corner (2-minute walk) from our old pad on Stonor Road and I never once bumped into them!

My new favourite London statue, part II

Last summer I declared this was my new favourite London statue, but now I have changed my mind: Monument to the Unknown Artist is my new favourite. It makes me smile every time I walk past him!

St Olave's church

Place: St Olave's Church, City of London.
Date: Thursday December 27, 2007.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

Occasionally I'll come across a little nugget of trivia about London that strikes a chord and makes me want to get off my backside and go explore this amazing city. When I found out about St Olave's church and it's rich history I made a mental note to visit it when I had time to do so. And so, this is how T and I found ourselves traipsing around the Square Mile looking for this little medieval church earlier this week.

The church was one of just a handful of buildings that survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 only to be badly bombed during The Blitz.