There's no shortage of buses in London - just a shortage of road space for them! Since the move last weekend I've been bussing to and from work due to it being less than half the price of the Tube. But the picture above is a common sight, and if it isn't a million other buses in the way it's a million other cars and it just takes bloody forever to get anywhere! So despite the weather I've decided to start biking to and from work. This way I get there in half the time, for free, and I get to mingle with rush hour traffic - win win win! :)

I shot this from the bus earlier this week - the Christmas lights of Regent Street in full swing. They make a big event out of switching these things on for the first time each year.

In one corner of Hyde Park is the Winter Wonderland - German markets and all things German everywhere, and strong smells of mulled wine - yummy!

Markets and wine aside, there's an ice rink, this dodgy rollercoaster...

...a big eight-lane slide thing to the right there, and a Ferris wheel off in the distance. I do rather enjoy this time of year I must say. Too bad it has to be winter here.

Last month's Movember winner ;)

A couple nights ago I quickly wandered through the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park on my way home from work, and tonight both Katie and I went through for a closer look.

Lots of incompetent skaters...

Lots of nauseous people getting off the rides...

Lots of confused people in the room of mirrors...

Lots of people facing their fear of heights...

And lots of hyperactive kids!

All that good stuff aside it was German this and German that with bratwurst, waffles, German beer - you name it.

I got stuck into the Mulled wine, and Katie got stuck into the mini pancake things (profiteroles?) from the chick with the hairdo straight out of Grease! Yummy :)

A few months ago when Katie and I were road tripping around southern France, we stopped at a little village near Monaco called Èze. While meandering around, Katie (being the arty person that she is) noticed this tapestry and recognised the piece (albeit a variation thereof, and back-to-front). The pouty face is because she really wanted it hehe, but it had a hefty price tag!

So recently that got me thinking: new flat, bare walls (as you can see), birthday, etc. So after a lot of researching and hunting around to find the name of the artist and piece, and then to find it in a tapestry...

...we have a smiley Katie again :)

(FYI: Gustav Klimt - The Kiss)

They got that right!

Some of the things I've seen during my first week of biking to work: big Christmas queue outside the toy shop...

The old Routemaster buses crapping out...

Plumbers smile (on a mechanic)...

And the London Tour buses crapping out too hehe.

This has got bad news written all over it! This thing broke down just in front of an island in the middle of the road, creating an awkward angle for other vehicles to get past. One accidental love-tap from a passing bus and squish!

Door completely torn off, couple of big metal rails in there as well - your guess is as good as mine (and the cop I asked didn't really know either).

Two weeks ago Katie, Davydd (my mate from Brisbane), Marzena (Dav's missus), and Katie (my missus hehe) moved into a flat in Maida Vale, northwest London, like one big happy family! ;) Shot of our street on the left, and main road around the corner on the right. It all looks a bit bare in winter, but I did happen to bike through this area back in summer and it's a much nicer and greener sight!

Few more shots of the hood. I'm sure a lot of people that come home late after a night on the sauce must try to get into the wrong building - they're all identical!

Our local pub just down the road, one of several good ones in the area.

Something for the late-night munchies...

Plenty of public dunnies...

Rubbish gets collected every day (now you see the couch...

...and now you don't)...

Big park around the corner, nice!

Maida Vale is one of the nicer areas of London, but regardless of where you are in this city it seems you're never far from a big dirty estate.

As for our flat, it's got a good sized living room, but still smaller than my massive bedroom in Edinburgh hehe. Pool table, projector, surround sound, and a very focused Katie :)

Kitchen...

Our room (fairly tidy)...

Dav and Marzi's room (totally messy ;) Dav's on a saving binge at the moment - every little helps; this time next year he'll have saved enough to buy himself another drawer or somewhere to put all of that bullcrap currently living on his bed.

View out the front door: staircase and the neighbour's front door. Charming.

Like one happy family, except for Davydd - he's like that creepy uncle nobody invites to Christmas dinner, but turns up anyway and creeps on all the women ;)

A month ago I started working for a consultancy that deal predominantly in Microsoft BI (business Intelligence) software. Long story short, I spent today in Reading - some 70kms west of London. Upon walking out of the train station this was the first thing I saw - charming. Spelling clearly isn't their best subject at school.

Another view from the station.

Anyway this is the reason I was here - a meeting with Microsoft at their UK campus. It looks a bit bleak in this weather so there's a couple more shots below I found on the net. There's several cafes throughout serving most everything under the sun, all heavily subsidised by Microsoft so it's cheap as chips. Oh and also throughout are fridges stocked with Coke and it's many other subsidiary products, all completely free hehe - help yourself (and I did).

This was all just metres down the road at the nearest intersection on my way to work this morning. Five engines (including a ladder), cops diverting traffic...

...and then the gas man turned up looking ready to rock and roll hehe!

And this is the aftermath of all the action that had probably been going on for a few hours. The flat at the top of the left shot caught fire somehow, which then ate through the floor and into the store below. By the time I arrived the fire was well out, and there were a couple of very stressed-looking Indians pacing around hehe. I came back for a nosey after work, and those same Indians were clearing the place out. I was able to get a better look inside and the place is destroyed. Christmas Day four years ago (my last Christmas before I left home and moved to Brisbane), I was out and about and came across a house in the process of burning to the ground. While standing around watching the bonfire with the rest of the neighbourhood, the owner or tenant arrived home from wherever she'd spent Christmas, found her home ablaze and went into utter hysterics (as you would). Next thing her cell phone got a yelling at, and within ten minutes the boyfriend arrived and got a second yelling at (must've left the chook in the oven a bit too long). Never a good time for such things to happen, but especially not at Christmas!

Merry Christmas all :)

Well the fat man in red came during the night (although I forgot to leave him cookies).

Bird, gammon joint, roasties - beautiful!

I'd rather the bird than me ;)

Nom nom nom! By the way, a few people back home have asked me if we've got snow, and no we definitely don't. I think the whole white Christmas in Britain thing is a bit of a myth; never had one in Edinburgh, and there was never any suggestion of us getting one down here. Either way, enjoy your summer - I look forward to our week and a half of summer in July.