The office was cool! It looked like Ikea and I sat at Nick’s place. Nick is the guy that I was supposed to report to, but stuff changed and I report to a gwai poh in KL instead. So Nick isn't my boss but he gives me work to while my boss is just for erm.. aesthetic reasons? =D Nick’s place is so cool as it is by the window and did I mention that the office is by the Thames river? So at Nick’s place, I see a replica ship beside me and more ships passing by. On the first day, we had a welcome lunch at Pizza Express.
(from l-r) Nick, who else, Sabina, Elsa, Ayse, Simrit, Tatiana, Carrie, Achilleas, Chris or Tom, Tom or Chris, Darren
Sabina is Nick’s boss, the director of research, has a doctorate and adds the ‘Dr’ to her name which I thought is weird. I don't think people do that unless they are a medical doctor or a lecturer.
Ayse is Elsa’s boss. Her name is pronounced Aishah, not ‘want to die’. She’s from Turkey.
Simrit is a project controller, sits in front of me and isn't very friendly.
Tatiana. I dunno what she does.
Carrie is a project controller too and has a very strange but amusing laughter. She suddenly laughs when there is something funny, showing that she is listening all the time despite being very busy.
Achilles is my team mate. My prediction of how he looks was totally wrong! From Constantine Maroulis in American Idol, the sole Greek man that I have seen, I thought that Achilleas would have long curly hair and erm.. be a bit sexy la, like Troy and wearing Gladiator slippers (Brad Pitt gave false impression that Greeks are handsome and sexy). But Achilles has no hair!! After a while, I thought he had some resemblance to Mr Bean instead but since I was sitting beside him and with Nick absent, it became quite amusing to kacau him also la.
Darren, Chris and Tom: The only thing I know is that they are in the HIV team and one of them plays cricket with Nick on Tuesdays.
Come to think of it, half of the team isn't local. Nick himself is from Wales and he’s only 25 and have people report to him already. Achilles reports to him, is 31 and has a Masters some more. My boss herself is only 26. She is more keng, she is the regional line manager whereas Nick is senior research exec. Me? But in comparison to the others in Malaysia, I’m the youngest (not that everyone is much older too) and the others are having the same position too. There is even a 27-year-old but a research assistant only. So I am going to be a (kiuk) manager soon and then apply for transfer to London =P
I digressed. So on the 1st day after work, we didn’t go anywhere cos we had to follow our colleagues home. We would be staying with them. Coll with her boss and me with Nicola who isn't from our team and hasn’t even met Nick before.
Day 5, 7th July: Covent Garden
After work, we went to Covent Garden. A market takes place there every Thursday but we went there to have this Belgian food that was recommended by coll's boss. Covent Garden is known for its many eateries. Mind you, it isn't easy to find places to eat at night in London. Certain areas are pretty quiet and shops here close at 7pm.
Day 6, 8th July: London malls are stupid!
Nicola said that there is a mall with Primark near our place. So since coll went to watch her Wicked after work, I decided to stop there on the way home. It’s called Southside Mall and it’s only a bus-stop away from my usual stop. I got there just in time.. to watch Primark close. The other shops were already either closing or about to close. It was very irritating, I felt like slapping each and every one of them. Hello, it is only 7pm in the evening!!! Why does the mall open when all the shops inside are closed?? Only Gap was opened, it’s opens until 8pm (wah, so impressed!) and since they don't make size 27 jeans, it’s useless to look. Since the stupid mall is closed, I walked across the road to Sainsbury. It’s a supermarket but it sells handphones, camera, iPods, GPS and books. Books are cheap. Gadgets are cheap too but there were no canggih ones. Sony Cybershot 7MP goes for RM300+ I think, Garmin Nuvi for RM600 and books are about RM20 (this is based on an exchange rate of RM6).
Day 7, 9th July: Cabut from summer party hahaha!
At first, I thought that we were pretty lucky to have come at a right time when the company organised its summer party. But you know la, I am anti social and don't drink much as well. These Londoners like to stand in a circle, hold a drink and chat. They are everywhere. Once I saw a big group of men wearing suits, I thought something happened. As I approached, they were actually standing outside a pub drinking beers. Looked kinda funny. So that’s what happened at the party. We dunno anyone and were too kera sumbang to make friends. We each grabbed a bottle of beer and drank from it, only to realise that NO girl was drinking beer especially from the bottle. They were all sipping champagne instead. My gosh, we must have looked like wild girls. Coll was worse, she drank few sips and poured it down the toilet. At least I finished 3 quarters of my Budweiser before deciding to cabut to Oxford Street for shopping. You see, shops are opened later on Thursdays. We didn’t even wait for the food, we cabut with me still holding my bottle of beer and I drank it all the way to the station =D Must have looked like a kaki botol. The only regret is that I didn’t say goodbye to Nick, for he was going off for holidays the next day and wouldn’t meet anymore for the rest of my stay there. He was still at the office when we left for the party and hadn’t arrived when we absconded. I thought that I would say a proper goodbye at the party ma.
We went back to Bond Street and Primark where I bought a bag and some hair rubber bands. I picked up some blouses but after much consideration, I decided not to buy them just because they were cheap. They are not cheap actually for that quality. We had dinner around that area and got home at 11pm. I thought that Nicola would be home already but she wasn’t home. I heard later that the party ended at 11pm.
So Nick’s gone for his holidays and my ‘landlord’ Nicola and her bf too. In other words, I’d be having fun at work with no superior and have the whole house to myself, don't need to be clean and tidy! But being home later would be a scare.
To be continued..
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