WOW, what a week!

Ok, so last week I was struggling for things to tell you about in my extremely boring life, but this week has been go, go, go!

The Emerald IsleLast weekend we did what students do best and took advantage of a great bargain. We got cheap flights to Dublin, Ireland and a cheap hotel, perfect for a girls’ weekend away. If you book your trip more than 30 days ahead of departure, you can get some great discounts – so always be on the lookout.

While in Dublin we did and saw plenty of things. A few of the sights such as the cathedral, temple bar and the city centre. We then made our way to the Jameson whisky factory where we willing volunteered to be whisky testers and were treated to rather a large amount of free whisky. On Sunday we went to the Museum of Decorative Arts, which much to our disappointment wasn’t much about art, but rather about the uniforms and lives of soldiers and about battles and wars. But still, it was a free day out and lots to see.

After landing home late Sunday night, it was a long drive back to London ready to be here for work bright and early in the morning.


London Life
I know that in last week’s blog I spoke of doing a restaurant review each week, but instead this week I am going to tell you about a really nice area to go for a few relaxing drinks and food. On Wednesday night I met up with a friend at London Bridge and as I didn’t know the area, allowed him to choose our venue.

He took me to a really nice area on the river, just ten minutes casual stroll from the station. If you follow the river along, past ‘The Arc’ building and the fountains and you eventually come to a very rustic looking cobbled street. If you take one of the arches in the building then it leads down to a row of restaurants and bars with fantastic views right along the river and all with outdoor seating.

I won’t lie, this area isn’t exactly cheap, but if you want to go somewhere a little different or somewhere to remind you exactly how beautiful London can be, then this is the perfect place to do so.

Monkeying Around

Yesterday I went on a day out with fellow student ambassadors from the university. A selection of us had been asked to go on the trip as a reward for continual good work and dedication to our jobs throughout the year. We went to Go Ape in Leeds Castle, Kent.

After piling off the coach we were greeted with a fantastic breakfast of pastries, teas, coffees and juices. Then one group at a time were sent off to get harnessed up and ready to go. We had been assigned into pairs and each girl was labelled a damsel and had a guy that was her knight to make sure she was ok. This meant we had a lot of fun doing it and no one ever got left behind on the course.





You then get a safety brief and the instructor guides you through the first zone that is a training ground of mini equipment. From zone two onwards, you are on your own! The course is made up of a series of rope ladders, zip wires, Tarzan swings, cargo nets and a lot of swinging around in trees. The day was very hard work, probably the most physical exercise I’ve had in years, but so enjoyable and most definitely memorable.

The course is around £30 per person but extras like breakfast and BBQ lunch will cost you more. If you think you could take on the challenge, then go for it!

Boredom, Barbie and Beautiful Food

Bored.com ...

OK, I really enjoy my job and sometimes I love the fact that we get spare time between calls to amuse ourselves, but right now I am bored, bored, bored, bored, bored. So please can I have some suggestions of light entertainment and links to amusing (office-friendly) websites. I will check them all out and give feedback if anyone sends me anything interesting.


Entertainment News

On another note ... I went to see Toy Story 3 the other day and it was brilliant J I think I would even go as far to say that it was my favourite Toy Story film so far. It made me laugh, made me cry (I know, what a loser!) And some of the new characters were great. Ken being a camp bloke that loved clothes because he is indeed a girls toy was hilarious and the film brought back those fond memories of knowing that Barbie and Ken should be together forever lol!

Munchies ... For those of you who live in the Greenwich area or are soon to move here, I thought I might write a little food guide for you and take it upon myself to try a variety of different things (what a hardship haha). So, this week’s favourite is Mambo Latino, a Cuban restaurant in Greenwich town centre. This tasty place offers a really wide variety of foods ranging from Jerk Chicken to jacket potatoes to tapas and sangria, and all at a pretty reasonable price. Look out for their offers such as Monday’s Spanish night where if you buy 4 plates of tapas you get free sangria. Or their pretty reasonable vegetarian set menu consisting of stuffed veggies, potatoes and a glass of wine or soft drink for 2 people for £20. Good music, good hats and tasty food. Enjoy some Latino culture in this fabulous restaurant.

The week ahead...
This weekend I am off to Dublin for a couple of days, (yes I know, I’ve just got back from Spain and I’m jetting off again, but that’s the hard life I lead!) So news of our travels and hopefully tons of pictures will follow next week.

Spain, Sunstroke and Stress!

Viva Espana!

So it’s my first day back at work after a fantastic week in Spain. The weather was fantastic and we saw and did so much. I and my flat mate went to Torremolinos, Costa del Sol for a week of relaxing before working full time in clearing for the rest of the summer.

We did some amazing things including a visit to the water park, a trip to Gibraltar to check out the monkeys and do some duty free shopping and a really cool Spanish horse show and flamenco display. It was beautifully hot hitting 43 degrees on our last day but unfortunately relating in me getting sunstroke and suffering all the way home :(

Monkey business!
Apparently people love stories about monkeys and the ones in Gibraltar were rather troublesome little devils, so if you ever get the chance to see them then definitely do it. They have been living in the country for hundreds of years so they believe that the territory is theirs. They often rob the shops in the national park of sweets, postcards and whatever else takes their fancy.
One lady on our tour group was silly enough to have open her bag when it had a couple of bananas in it, which were speedily robbed by the cheeky primates, the lady stupidly tried to steal them back but there was no way they were letting hold of their loot.

Another idiot was the man who had left his car window open then had a fit when a rather large male ape decided he wanted a little sit down in the comfy driver’s seat. As they guy came back shouting and screaming the monkey dived out the other window nearest to the man and he jumped a mile – what a tough nut haha.
So remember folks ... when visiting monkeys, please refrain from taking bananas in your bags, leaving windows open and just generally providing them with entertainment by being idiot tourists.

Here are some monkey pics for your amusement:

Monkey mastermind with a stolen postcard:






















Monkey jail where he belongs haha (alternatively known as railings)

Car thieving monkey:

Monkey!!

Back to reality!
Now I’m back and getting into the swing of working for the summer, it’s also had me thinking about going into my final year and what lies beyond my degree ... I’m finding myself contemplating whether or not to do a PGCE (teacher training qualification), this could give me a great back-up career but should I distract myself from my dream career for a year to do the training? With the realisation of many of my friends finding it difficult to get jobs as graduates, it pushes me towards considering this new direction for my career, but I’m still feeling a bit lost ... does anyone have any helpful advice for me?

Other thoughts ...