Last weekend was a busy one for us. The workers came over to continue on the house works over both days, bright and early (and cold) by 8am such that we were deprived of our weekend lie-in. Oh well, the early bird... We were glad we had plans to go out on both days so we didn't have to stay home amidst the flurry of activity. First the electrician came over at 8am. Then the plumber 15min later. Followed shortly by another 5 workers who came into the house in an orderly fashion. By the time our cleaner came over at 830am she thought whatever happened to our house with so many people! And that was only 830am (stifling a yawn already).
We closed our bedroom door and tried to snooze but of course that proved difficult. Then the builder Aleks "the boss" whom we liaised with came over at 11am and we went round the house to chat about the progress, next steps and of course do our part payment. We chatted and clearly he was immensely proud of the amount of work his workers have done so far.
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| I'm not in the industry but I have to say this new bit of the roof which they did from scratch does look pretty neat |
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| Another shot of the new roof. The weather has not been cooperating much and so they have been waiting to open up the existing roof to join them together |
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| Right below the new roof is this new bit of the extended bedroom |
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| Delivering more materials - first time I'm seeing this. Using a remote controlled crane attached to the back of the lorry. This is probably as common as can be but still I was intrigued. |
We got ready and left the house, feeling like we have accomplished much for the day already. It was Rachel's birthday lunch and she chose The Balcon in Piccadilly. K and I came here a few years ago for his birthday and really liked the atmosphere and the service. We even brought my friends here for dinner when they visited but it has been a while. The long table was pretty much seated when we arrived. We were the biggest group that afternoon - a table of 9 Singaporeans, 2 Malaysians and 1 Filipino!
It was a long and leisurely lunch, much longer than I expected. We started at 1pm and left about 5pm! Lawrence who lives nearby, invited us over to chill, and we were also keen to check out his newly refurbished place. The weather wasn't too kind that Saturday - we kept having intermittent rain.
For dinner, we figured it was easier to eat in town before heading home. And so K and I trooped down to Leicester Square. On the way, we discovered this beautiful nursery full of shabby chic stuff and plants.
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| They had tables of pretty stuff |
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| including mini potted plants, big bouquets, candles... |
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| I'm not sure I will spend GBP320 for this rusty garden chair though |
Both K and I agreed that whilst it was a pretty store - pretty enough to lure us in - there was nothing that we could buy. Sadly we don't think it is gonna survive.
The next day was another exciting one. We both really like the British comedian Michael McIntyre and when I found out he was doing a few shows at the O2 in October, I really wanted to go. But boy when they released the tickets I was unfortunately too slow and so there are only single tickets left. Plus K didn't want to pay that much to watch a comedian (I guess it's fair enough).. and Rachel said to me to wait for them to show it on the telly. Not giving up, I randomly recalled he had a short series on BBC every year nearing Christmas called the Big Show. I googled it and lo and behold they happened to be doing the recording in a theatre in the West End and they were giving out FREE tickets for this 3 part series! Woohoo, yes please count us in! I was so excited when the email came in saying I have been allocated two tickets for the first recording. There were instructions of arriving by a certain time to receive ticketed seats because they always over allocate tickets to ensure a full seating capacity.
Based on CY's advice (he went too late last year and couldn't get any tickets on the day itself), we arrived at 330pm to collect the tickets (no Q! amazing). We were asked to walk around, have an early dinner before being seated by 7pm in time for the recording. It was so exciting. Of course we couldn't take any pictures during the show so the most I could get was the stage backdrop. When the man himself came on stage everyone cheered and clapped. Being a live recording it was a very interesting night. They had to record certain parts of the show twice and you see the teething issues which no one expected. In total the recording took more than 3.5h which was pretty long and being a Sunday night, knowing there was work the next day was a dampener. But oh well, overall we really enjoyed ourselves, it was a unique experience. Like what Michael McIntyre said (of the teething issues), "when you are sat there getting frustrated by all these, think of how much you paid." lol. True, that.
Look out for the first episode to be broadcast on the BBC near Christmas. You might spot us!
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