7:32 am

DAMN you jet lag! its 7:32 am in london and 6:32pm in melbourne. i just woke up. excitement will not make me sleepy.i had to sleep wtih earplugs last night. we stay on a main street where cars refuse to stop gushing by, it seems at all times of the night they are speeding through. buses, private cars, taxi's, street cleaners and garbos. the first night it was tolerable since i was feeling euphoric about being here, but the second night i knew i wud wake up during the night feeling frustrated. even thru earplugs i can here them!! i notice people in london wear black - just like in melbourne. black outfits everything. they are quite classy here, way more classy than melbourne - even the cool african hip hoppers where classy. no trackies, disgusting ripped jeans or coloured sweaters. here are more things that i notice about london:

1. people love dogs, it seems that 1 in 4 people here have at least ONE yesterday on the streets i saw a lady (one lady) walking 5 dogs on leeshes. FIVE! three medium size ones and 2 miniture dogs. they were so cute. she wud stop for the dogs to sniff at whatever they pleased. she spoke to them saying 'comon, comon'. i sensed it was going to be a very long walk.
2. people love to walk in the parks. i was surprised to see how many people were walking in Hyde Park. in melbourne no one walks thru parks!
3. more people here speak a different language other than english. i would expect that in england, people will speak english and only the minority of people will speak something else. but it seems the opposite. as i walk down the street and overhear people taking, it is usually always in another language. i am so desparate to hear more of the british accent but i cannot hear it! p.s. i want to come back with an english accent (as we speak, my room mate has just gone to the toilet. she is going to see the nasty surprise that i left here i the toilet bowl - the toilet simply would not flush! hehe)
4. the air is so cold here but joggers still jog! in shorts and singlets that is... they might catch a cold.
5. food servings are smaller here than over there
6. everything seems cheap here. a meal at a nice italian resturant is about 9 pounds. when i change the pound sign to an australian dollar sign it seems very cheap but when i convert it its about $14.
7. the people here are lovely and so helpful. it is rare for there to be escalators or even lifts in the train stations. travellers with heavy luggage have no option but to drag their goods up many stairs. one of the girls i was with was obviously struggling with the load and on two occasions, complete strangers offered and insisted on helping here. they picked up the luggage and walked right up the stairs and placed them at the top. the first time it was a young gir, the second was an old man. how lovely. when i used the tube yesterday, i witness hapless travellers carrying up their luggage and another local offering to carry her bags. awwww :)

London Streets - classy

my first impressions of london within the first 2hours of arrival were positive. i mustve been expected grumpy anti-social people that i do of the french. within the 2days of arrival i decided this is a city that i would love to live in. and thats pretty good coming from me since i love melbourne like the italians love their tomatoes. or maybe its just the travelbug in me talking.