Any train, one stop!

Welcome to ground zero of my Laughing Matter blog.  It's a bit rough 'n ready, but it will do for now.  

So - London!  Mat and I have been in the country 24hrs now and we're full of congratulations for each other on our early successes:

• Jumping on a mini city tour of Singapore, during our transit layover
• Breezing through UK Border/Customs
• Finding my 'lost baggage' before leaving the airport - it had fallen off the back of the conveyor belt behind the scenes
• Picking up Oyster travel cards for public transportation and hopping on and off three train lines to get to our destination like we're proper Londoners already (ok, except for when we double and possibly triple swiped our travel cards ... live and learn)
• Discovering our Airbnb hosts are incredibly kind and hospitable, not to mention very generous with breakfast supplies and tea/coffee/biscuits, etc.
• Getting onto wi-fi and sparking off a couple of emails and then, bonus!, Face-Timing with Judy 
• Figuring out how to get the SIM card we bought for my phone from an airport vending machine to work (no small feat)
• Taking two trains into Oxford Circus to get a more proper mobile phone account set up for Mat (again, no small feat)
• A quick grocery shop and then home-cooked chicken & pasta with salad and bottle of South African pinot gris

My early impressions:
Shadwell is an ethnic neighbourhood where we are in the minority. I would hazard a guess most folks here are muslim, given the number of berka-clad ladies we passed on the street.  With all the different languages and dress I don't feel like such an obvious tourist - here everyone is from somewhere else.

Our little flat is cosy and well-appointed. There is an eating nook in the central hall that the bedrooms are off of so if you want company it's easy enough to sit at the table and catch someone on their way past.  It's a thousand times nicer to be with very kind locals for the first few days than in a sterile and lonely hotel (kind of like when Jo and Pete took Mat in nine years ago). The flat is also just 2 mins from two different train lines and about 10 min walking distance to Tower Bridge.

Groceries are WAY cheaper than Australia, even with the conversion to pounds and paying city prices.  I.e. a loaf of Burgen soy & linseed bread was the equivalent to $2 AUD.  I kept asking Mat to check the expiry dates because I thought for sure there must be a catch, but there isn't.  I realise other commodities, such as petrol, will be far more expensive here, but still reassuring to know we can save a bit on our food budget.

Unexpected or divine interventions:

• realising on the side of the road that we needed a small pin or something to pop the SIM card catch on my phone and looking down to see a paper clip at our feet
• Singapore Airlines follows the script of 'mostly gin with a dash of tonic' in their G&T mixers
• Mat finding his way back to the accommodation after realising he was lost and had no way of contacting a soul here (this was before we got our mobiles sorted)

Hiccups or challenges:
My back has seized up so I'm writing this while lying on a hot water bottle, with a couple of ibuprofen taking off the edge. My back was fine during the journey though and I'm grateful for that. 

Quote of the Day:  'Any train, one stop' - train station attendant's reply when we asked which train to catch back from Bank St to Shadwell.  Fabulous London accent!

Good wishes to all and sundry.

Keep the peace,
M