Friday 31 December 2010

The sadest day of the year

The new year will start much better than this one finished!!! Not difficult!!!

Today I was making the deliveries in the oncology ward (xmas time means extra work) and I heard a nurse very worried because a new portuguese patient was there and she couldn't speak english!!
I was in the right place át the right time! (át least for her) so I acepted beeing the translator for the doctor!!
But what happened was that I had to give her allll the bad news... Now I know how doctors feel! There is no saddest thing To say To a person!
Át least I could tell the doctor she had a lot of pain and the painkiller she got will help her To enter the year more relaxed.
She has been living here for 20 years but doesn't speak a single english word!!! I don't know what has she been doing here all this time but I do know what she is going To be doing for the rest of her months....


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday 30 December 2010

New year decisions!

Have you made your new year decisions? This is the question I hear frequently during the day. It seems that these guys give so much important to the end of the year that they make a plan for new year and share it with everyone.
I have to make up some new decisions to have something to answer. Need ideas!!!!
And u? Have u made your decisions like: " Para o ano vou fazer isto que este ano nao fiz porque..."

Tuesday 28 December 2010

Our first away Xmas!!!! Cracker!!!!

And so it was, a Portuguese Xmas. Full of Portuguese around and with Bacalhau!!!! :D
It was a nice cosy event, with good hearted people and full of xmas spirit.

In the UK there is the Xmas tradition of using crackers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cracker) and inside beside a fortune teller there is a paper crown. That's what we can see in the pictures wearing.

It is also possible to see that Xmas was spiced with Capirinha spirit!!!! (me barganing a Boston Shaker in the Kitchen)

Xmas toast with the Boss

Manel showing some doubtful skills! 

Queen Sarah

So we had a Druid! 

Kids playing with gifts! Noddy House!!! 

Too many Caipirinhas! 

How much for this Shaker??? 

Humm more food!!!! 

Celso Clan!! 

Next day recovery...

Friday 24 December 2010

Merry Xmas

Hi Guys!!!

we just wanted to wish a great Xmas for the ones who celebrate it and a very nice Xmas Holydays for those who don't. Happy time for everyone.

Merry Xmas

Thursday 23 December 2010

NHS 15 SNS 0

Has I said in a previous post, I'm working in the Hospital in this first phase with a team of two guys, one from Serra Leoa (Bobson) and a Jamaican (Clifford).
Well Bobson is used to arrive late, to leave before the hour and uses all the tricks available in the public sector. He is what I call, a Public Professional. Last week he called me he was not feeling very well and could not work, (a 5 year old kid would make a better sick voice than that) I was shocked when I was told that a public sector worker can call sick and stay at home to a maximum of 5 days, three times a year with full pay. Yes, full pay. So any NHS worker can have 3 times a year full weeks without having to prove anything. They don't need any medical evidence. Forget SNS, NHS is the real public heaven. Today he said e felt a pain when holding a box, so he went the rest of the day to the emergency of the hospital. Poor guy...
Clifford on the other hand is more keen to work, even though he gets confused with any changes in the work. But, and there is allways a but, today he was suspended because there is an accusation of theft (seen also in the cameras) in the hospital. No it was not my iPhone but police is involved.
Question: what can I do with a team like this????


PS- to make even a better day I got stuck inside a lift today. The stupidity of the situation was that the lift was working. What happened was that I had some cages (to take the products to the wards) and a guy with other cages entered the lift. There were so many cages that the doors closed and we could not reach the buttons. Unfortunately was a service lift so we had to wait 15 minutes for someone to call the lift....

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Christmas shopping! Hohoho!

One of the greatest things to do in London in Christmas time is to go shopping in the traditional street markets. So, yesterday, I went to the Old Spitalfields Market, in Commercial St., and was instantly affected by the consumer's fever. I was marvelled by the diversity and originality of the products sold: lots of vintage jewelry and clothing; old vinyl discs from the Beatles or the London Calling; hand made jewels from young artists (I also talked to one of them); and a stall where a woman had beautiful hand made hats in the 20's style. Loved it!

Not feeling completely satisfied, I also went to London's "Rua de Sta. Catarina", the ten times bigger Oxford St. :) But I chose the wrong time to do so... I felt like a sardine in a can, squeezed by a shopping eager crowd! At least, I was able to bye some presents.

Last but not least, I also made a quick visit to the german Market near London Eye, with it's wooden stalls and the smell of delicious food. They also have an ice rink! Good news: many of these markets are open the hole year, so it's always a good opportunity to visit while in London!

Monday 20 December 2010

Conflicting cultures!!!

The bad side of living abroad is when the habits of the country you live in conflict with your own. In the UK Christmas eve (24th night) is of no great interest because they mainly celebrate on the 25th.
Why is it conflicting? Because due to the fact above mentioned I'm working on 24th night in the bar. Most of businesses are open and we are not an exception.
This means no Christmas dinner, and for now we are planning to spend the late night at our new friend Celso. He works with me in the bar and he is an amazing person. He is 26 years old but has also lived in Spain and Canada, he has worked in construction, in factories, in hospitality, well we counted more than 20 different jobs in different countries. Beside that he is married and has 3 kids. Great guy and for sure will be a great Christmas host.

PS- It is snowing a lot, which may mean a transport disaster for tomorrow...




Saturday 18 December 2010

Window View

The new Ice Age has started!!!! We are so lucky that we decided to come to UK in the worst winter since 1963!!!! Icyyy

Tuesday 14 December 2010

It's oficial! I'm a lucky bastard!!!

Last post I was surprised for finding money in the street in two consecutive days .
So you know what happened today? I found again.... and twice !!!!!!!!!
First in a stationery shop and the second in the metro entrance!!!
Does anybody knows the meaning of this? Should I play "EuroMilhoes"? :)

Monday 13 December 2010

Damn I feel lucky!!!!!!

What are the odds of finding money in the street two days in a row?

Thursday 9 December 2010

Bartending and Waitering!!!!!

Even though I already have a day job (I won't call it normal because it always depends on the perspective! and mine has changed a lot!) I'm still enjoying a lot my hospitality experience! So today I'm showing were I work and what I do.
It is not a big Restaurant Bar, but is nice and cosy. It's called Brazil Point because the Portuguese owner (Jose Reis as my father) is married with a Brazilian. So we serve mainly Brazilian food, in other words rodizio.
The food is the cheapest the boss can find, with no flavour and sometimes recooked many times, but the English love it. It is so greasy that it shines in dark, but I see all these English tipping the staff as if they had the meal of their life.
The location is very good because Putney is across the street from Fulham and Chelsea which are top areas of London, and this is why we get so wealthy customers.
But we also have some Brazilian and South American customers that are on a very saving mood. One couple the other day wanted a Rodizio to share.... how smart!!! Imagine bringing all the family and ordering ONE rodizio until all the family was satisfied! Well it was veryyyy difficult to explain those guys they couldn't share the dish. But, that's the beauty of public attending isn't it? :D
The pictures are of the restaurant bar and me in action, bartending and waitering. The are a little blur because my boss (fat guy in the pic I'm serving the table) was mumbling a lot for taking those pictures. Well mumbling is his official sport... mine, is just having fun!!!



Wednesday 8 December 2010

November Monthly Report

So it is time to get to ground terms which in this case means how much we spent and how much we saved or lost. We were not expecting to save in the first month, specially coming here with no work. We had for the first month investments, like the house and gym deposit, some furniture, etc. Hopefully December will start to be a saving month.

Expenses - Budget 1800 Pounds - Reality  2950 Pounds
Income - Budget  1400 Pounds - Reality  1000 Pounds
Result- Budget -400 - Reality -1950 Pounds

Status = - 1950 Pounds

Some details would be:
500 pounds of furniture or appliances to make our new home more comfortable. The budget was 50.
 290 pounds of groceries, instead of the 200 budgeted
314 pounds of transport instead of 200 budget, mainly due to 2 taxi trips
110 pounds of mobile phone instead of the 60 budgeted

Harsh beginning, but hopefully this may help people planning a new life in UK.

Monday 6 December 2010

Snow Friends

This last week our friends Tiago, Joana and Rui came to London to see two great concerts: The National and Arcade Fire. ( not to visit us of course!!! ;)) We were also at the National concert as Sara already posted and it was a magnificent concert.

Enjoying the opportunity of their stay, Gabriela who is a old mate from the time I worked in Coelima gathered all of us at her house. She lives with her recent English husband future father of their 8 months baby.

It was nice to meet Nick and also to see again an old chap from my time of crazy IRC, Tiago Mota aka TM. Yes that time were we did not sleep just to be chatting around with people around the world.

A very cosy dinner.

The family portrait, from left to right: Tiago Mota, Tiago Vieira, Rui, Joana, I, Nick, Gabriela and Sara







Sunday 5 December 2010

And on the first month I was robbed!!!!!

It is very likely that we'll get robbed during our world trip, maybe more than once!!!

But like all statistics that everyone is afraid of, they ruin when you are robbed at your working place in the very safe city of London.

My Iphone disappeared from my desk. As simple as that.

A very strange environment was build because I'm a newcomer, nobody really knows/trusts me!!! But facts are facts, I lost my phone.

But, I have a Nigerian General Boss!!! (she's nice, but she knows how to boss around warehouse guys!!! )
And she started almost an inquisition!!! It was a cinematic show that at the end culminated with a threat to everyone:
"I've seen the security cameras, I know who it was. The phone has to show up until Tuesday otherwise I'll call the police "

As simple as that and 5 hours later my phone showed up in my jacket left pocket. Nice....

Just a detail... we just have cameras in the warehouse, not in the office!!! But who cares... she's the Nigerian Boss!!!!

Saturday 4 December 2010

Squeeze Me Please!!!!

The snow is amazing!!! But the consequences and disruptions are complicated to bare!!!
A normal day I'm ate 7.30 in metro station and when the train comes I have to squeeze myself inside! I've developed same skills now:
1- You put your feet inside and push people around
2- People tend to adjust a little, then you start to mingle between them
3- wait for the noise of doors closing and you incline the head inside
4-the doors are closing so use the smack of the door to go deeper inside
5- be careful with trapped clothes in the door

That's it. After this instructions you can go and use the metro at traffic hours.

But what happened with the snow yesterday is that even with this skills I have for squeezing in inside metros I tried from 7.30 on 11!!!!! of them! Yes, 11!! And I could not squeeze in!

The rule is that if the door hits half of your body (if your ass is outside basically) then you should jump out!!

A 15 min trip was transformed in one amazing squeezing hour!! :D

Here you have some pics of what is like...first one you can see the black guy breaking the rule if the door starts to close. Others just have the heads out so they are ok. Second picture is a view from behind after a very well done squeeze process. I wouldn't do better. Last picture is how much the London tube still has to develop to achieve the best squeezers in the world, the Taiwanese metro.


Tuesday 30 November 2010

The National - Fake Empire



A little sample from the concert

Swedish Birthday of a Portuguese in London

Seems like an odd thing but the truth is that the celebrations of the day my mother put me out in the world included a surprise concert of The National, in the O2 Brixton Academy, with a forbidden croud-surfing from Matt Berninger and an intimist moment with the croud. I'm definitely a fan!
Not having cake and champagne, what do you use for a treat? Of course! You use "Daim", a delicious swedish caramel & chocolat sweet; and Glogg, an aromatized wine, drank hot to warm your body and soul.
Well, that's the way I celebrated the midnight of the 30th November, with specialties from IKEA (always this in the way...), at the candle light and with a smiling Joao! Lucky me...:)

Tuesday 23 November 2010

All day in Hospital!!!!!!! God!!!

Today I had to go to the Hospital very early in the morning, it was terrible. What happened? I'll explain.
Last week I went to an agency to look for another job to occupy my free hours during day (in the bar is only after 18). So I went to an agency specialized in administrative and restaurant work. I went inside the agency asking for part time job with no experience, which they did not have, and I came out with an interview for a management job in one of the biggest hospitals trust in the UK.
Could life be crazier?
I was in the right moment at the right place said the agent. They were going to advertise the job, and because I was there with my CV I was the first. Amazing luck!!!
I went to the interview and yes I got the job, and I started today as the Materials Management Supervisor. (http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/home.aspx )
And I that thought I was saying goodbye to hospitals in July...
We'll make more money in two months than we planned to do in 4.
No I'm not giving up my bartending carreer... :D
At least for now, it will be hospital from 8 to 4.30 and bar from 6.30 to 23 on weekedays. And bar only  of course on weekends. I'll be a bartender and waiter at night and a manager during day.
When you are not looking for things, they just fall from the sky...

Here you can see how well located it is, right in the centre of London (4 tube stops from my house! damn I'm lucky)

Monday 22 November 2010

Jesus and a Bloody Mary please!!!! I lost my virginity!!!

Yes, I'm not a bartending virgin anymore. Yesterday I got the real freshman treatment (we call it praxe) for a bartender. It was very well done by the bar staff and I didn't have any idea what was going to happen, so when the moment come I was all alone. (all my colleagues dissipated)
It was a party of 40/50 English people, and suddenly I realized I was alone and they were coming to me with those thirsty crazy looks!!!! Give me Alcohol!!!!!!!
I did more drinks yesterday than in all my short bartending life, and did so many mistakes that I don't even remember, but it was a glorious night. After the initial cold feet I got confident and started entering the groove.  Mojitos were the night success!!
One thing that was amazing is that this guys don't care about the money, I realized that when I run out of coins and went to the boss to get more. He told me to forget the coins and start rounding up, (3.50 to 4 or 5 for example) and the thing is, that it worked. The same people that were buying for 3.50 were paying 4 or 5 and not even one single complain. Next time I'll try to charge tap water to see if it works...



P.S.- got 15 pounds of tips.(low amount) 3 nights per week like this is 230 euros free of taxes! Nice...

Sunday 21 November 2010

Sentence of the day: "Sou mt bixa mas na cozinha sou Homem"

Said the Sous Chef (second in command) to my boss who was grumbling unfairly with him. It means "I'm very gay but at work I'm a man"!!!!!! So respect me!!! Awesome! ! :D

My boss is a grumbler but deeply he is a good guy. He just talks to me like he's going to fire me everyday. I just don't care that much!! I need the experience and the money.

The bad think of my work is knowing that tomorrow morning (Sunday) I'm going to wake up early to clean the bathrooms and the floor of the place. Can't wait for lunchtime to start serving the customers and making some simple cocktails!

Saturday 20 November 2010

Smells like X-mas!




The society's general idea that women can't be given the credit card, otherwise the money would run out in a few minutes isn't totally correct, or complete. Indeed, there is an exception to the main rule: Joao!


In my sweet innocence, I let Joao on his own to IKEA to buy a desk to our new room in Clapham. Imagine the result...Yep! Not only he brought the desk but several other stuff, as candles, lamps,...and a X-mas tree!! Well, not everything is lost! We are really lucky that IKEA has really great prices. So, the final result is a totally new look and for a bargain :-)







Tuesday 16 November 2010

Dinner with old friends

Yesterday night we had a wonderfull evening with my friend Ana who I met in Sweden while studing. It was nice to rememeber those old times and also to meet her sweethearth, Sam, a great British chap. The venue was Wagamama a japanese restaurant chain very famous and with tasty food. A night to remember indeed.




Monday 15 November 2010

I sell beers and...health advice!

I thought I came to London to take a little break from my work as a pharmacist but yesterday my sweet "vacations" were disturbed... Yes, even here, on the island, people ask me for advice! My boss at the restaurant revealed my disguise and told some costumers to tell me their doubts. Imagine what they were...Yes, one of them was holding a Viagra and asked me if he could take it!! oh god... Well, if I don't get many tips, at least I can charge for the appointments ;-)


(just for the record: today I got a £10 tip too!)

Sunday 14 November 2010

First tip!!!!!

Today even though having worked 10 strait hours feeling sick, I enjoyed a lot serving directly the customers. It was nice to see them happy with my service and specially getting a 10 pounds bill in my pocket. My first direct tip (we have tips in half the tables, but generic ones).
I celebrated making a Special Frozen Strawberry Daikiri which the boss took from my hand, but no regrets. :D
Well it was for this why we came here, right?. To earn money, salary and tips to travel around the world. So here we have, the beginning.
I did put the money in the tips box, which will be divided by all employees (meaning less than 2 pounds to me) but I'm happy to confirm the nice profitable (for us) culture of the British.

First casualty!

I've got the flu!!!!!!  Some symptoms !!! Is London to hard for me? (Joao) It was not easy to work today, specially being a busy night!!
Well thank god I brought a Pharmacist with me. :D Tomorrow I'll try to buy Nimesulide without prescription! (Sara  says it is not necessary but I like to have some around) I'm sure that in UK is easy...
Tomorrow I'll feel much better being so well treated!!! :D

Saturday 13 November 2010

Ops no more electricity! Forgot to top-up!


Yes, the title is true! Today I was having a shower and the electricity was cut. What the hell happened, I thought? Well, now we know that in the UK they also have top-up system for electricity like we have for mobile phones.
So the number you can see on the display is the ammount of credit we still have to spend in energy. (5.75 pounds)
We are still recovering from the shock...
We're going to send the receipt of ten pounds to the landslord to discount the rent...
Bloody English!!!!!
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Friday 12 November 2010

Sara's Job


This is where Sara has started to work here in London, she's an all-around-work waitress(in portuguese 'pau para toda a obra'). As you can see it is a Portuguese restaurant based on the football club Nacional da Madeira. And it is mainly used by... 'Madeirenses'!!!! The idea was not to come to London to listen to Portuguese all the time, but for now we consider this a starter. Good for some work experience in the UK. This oppurtunity was provided by the Portuguese master in London... Neto's Agency... we'll talk about it later!!!!
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Thursday 11 November 2010

The Room


This is our room in Clapham North. Yes we have no bed, but... we do have a mattress !!! Think it like a Japanese bed!!
500 pounds a month, all included and 150 yards from the tube!!
The other house mates are from Ecuador and Colombia. They look nice and quiet... we'll see...

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Wednesday 10 November 2010

Better than expected

Bonfire and Fireworks celebrating Guy Fawkes attempt to blow up the government. (shouldn't we try in Portugal?)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes
So even the most optimistic person in the world (that would be me) would not suspect that after 7 days we would have:


  • A house in a great place: Clapham North (2 min from Underground Station) A dynamic area full of bars and nightlife.
  • 2 jobs: Sara in a Portuguese from Madeira restaurant in Stockwell and I in a brazilian bar and restaurant in classy Putney
  • Bank account in Barclays, without job, residence and free of charges
  • 2 weekly football matches to play
  • Gym
Thank you London

Arrival


So we arrived! Amazing Liverpool Station! London here we go...

The beginning


Welcome!!!!

This is the manual for dummies to survive in London.


1st Rule - Don't plan before
2nd Rule - Contact Neto's Agency
3rd Rule - Look for signs, and wait for a sign!