29
August
2006
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-Ben
Posted: General
29
August
2006
After my wonderful time in England, and a couple of days back in Sydney, my next 24 week placement has begun all too soon. I’m at a company called VeCommerce which provides speech recognition systems, essentially for call center automation. Its in Lane Cove, so the drive in rush hour takes about the same as it did to Alcatel (a little over half an hour), but the drive home is quicker. So far I’ve just been getting everything setup on my computer and meeting people. It seems like a friendly office which is good. Also, there is a shower in the building which seems like a strange thing to notice, but I was worried there wouldn’t be and I want to continue jogging (I believe it may be a soft j as in yogging ) at lunchtime.
In 4 weeks I’ve got a week off on Tom’s boat in the Whitsundays to look forward to – I can’t wait. It does mean unfortunately that I’ll be working through until uni starts since I have 2 weeks off for christmas. Nevermind – well worth it if you ask me.
Hope all is well with everyone else
Ben
Posted: General
23
August
2006
I’m writing this en-route from London to Singapore, which unfortunately means that my holiday is over. I had a great final day in Cambridge which involved wandering around town one final time, packing, and generally enjoying my last day with Jackie. Luckily, she is hopefully coming to Sydney and Bali at Christmas which made it a lot easier to say good bye this morning.
Last night, my final night in Cambridge consisted of a few drinks and then the pub quiz. Although the last one was boring we all decided to go, and take some alcohol with us. Equipped with a bottle of wine, and some cider, beer and black-currant to make snake bites (classy I know) for me, Jackie, Julie and Kate, we had a good fun time and ended up coming in fourth. Our result was in large part due to my knowledge of the name of the Australian National Anthem, and Ayers Rock’s Aboriginal name . After the pub quiz we all went out to Ballare for some dancing. Elliott made the night, ending up in a hot tub filled with bikini (and possibly less) clad girls!
Jackie and I headed home to get an hour and a half’s sleep before walking over to catch a 5am bus to Heathrow. She kindly came along for the journey to keep me company for a few more hours. Check in wasn’t too bad with Singapore airlines – I checked in everything except my computer for simplicity, but the queue for Security took an hour and went the whole length of the airport’s top floor! I did the first half of the queue twice since the first time We decided that it was too early for me to go through and say good bye!
I’ll have photos from last night soon – Jackie will send them to me when she gets a chance. Until then, I guess this is the last blog about my trip 
Hope you’ve enjoyed keeping up with my adventures. In the future I’ll keep posting about what I’m up to in general, so have a look once in a while, and leave a comment whenever you like!
Jackie, I miss you lots already and look forward to talking soon.
Ben
Posted: Travel
21
August
2006
Formal Hall on wednesday night was good fun as usual (I wore my pink Betsy Johnson and Ben matched in his pink Herringbone). We made it out to Ballare that night, a local dance club, after some drinks with Gideon and Dr. Birdman…not to mention the uncanny impersonations of a Superb Fairy Wren, a three toed sloth, and definitely can’t forget our amazing bird calls…”kackaa” and “puuurrr.” Good times.
The next day Ben decided to make an appearence in Behavioral Ecology since he became such good friends with my Professor. I’m not gonna lie I’m a little nervous about their conversations and the effect it may have on my marks. After class Kate, Ben and I met Andy (Ben’s cousin) for dinner and drinks at Brown’s. It was a fun night and Ben was really happy to see Andy again, and it was lovely to meet him especially since I had stayed in Milwich with his family a few weeks ago. After dinner Andy headed back to London, and the three of us went to sing Karaoke at Pembroke College. There are a few Japanese programs that focus on learning English for a few weeks here during the summer. A few of the Ta’s that work for us also work for those programs so they invited us to join in the Japanese Karaoke and Farewell party. It was quite the scene with the Japanese students saying goodbye to one another after a few too many drinks. It wasn’t long before all of our friends joined us, and somehow Colin and Ben were in control of the mics and the song choice. Ben and I did an awe inspiring rendition of Copa Cabana – personally I think we gave my Aunts a run for their money – actually we were terrible but we had a blast and I think everyone enjoyed laughing at us. It was an awesome night, and finished by a bunch of us heading to the Fountain.
Friday morning we headed to London to stay with Natalie (a friend of Ben’s from Singapore who lives near High St. Kensington). After being kicked out of the V and A museum because of our backpack, we wandered around for a while and even had some tasty samples at Marks and Spencer’s – pretty random, but great day nonetheless. We met Natalie and Will at their perfectly located and adorable flat (only a little jealous…ok a lot), and headed to Notting Hill for a nice Thai meal at the Churchill Arms. Marina, a friend of ours from Santa Barbara who lives in London, met us for a drink after and unfortunately had an obligation with another friend. It was great to see her even if it was brief. We then went to Fulham and Chelsea with Natalie and Will to a party, bar, and club with all of their friends. It was a great evening and everyone was increadibly welcoming. We were very lucky to have such great tour guides!
Saturday morning we got up early to visit Windsor Castle, and Hampton Court. Natalie drove Will, Matthew (Will’s younger brother), Ben and I to Windsor where we walked around the precious village and the current residence of the Queen. I was very impressed and definitely enjoyed the view from the Ferris Wheel. Windsor Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited royal residence and was built by William the Conqueror in 1070 which is quite remarkable. Apparently King George V liked it so much he chose it for his family surname. Ok enough of my random trivia – sorry Ben. After lunch there we went to Hampton Court. Thanks to Natalie for navigating there and dealing with all the stress while the rest of us napped in the back!! Sorry about that I really was trying to stay awake! It was well worth the stress though to walk around the gorgeous gardens, see the Real Tennis Court, Henry VIII’s apartments, Tudor Kitchens, the Maze, and my personal favourite the Privy Gardens. My infatuation with Henry VIII and his wives definitely was inhanced by this experience! Thanks again Nat, Will and Matthew! That night we went to dinner with Talenia (another friend from Singapore), Michelle, and Alex (a friend from Sydney). It was great to meet them all and after a few Long Island Ice Teas we went home to get some rest.
This morning we met Alex in Little Venice where he was staying and walked around Portabello Road. After a nice lunch we met Will and Nat at the Tea Palace, said good bye to Alex, picked up our bags, and caught the train back to Cambridge. It really was an awesome weekend thanks to the hospitality of Nat and Will.
-Jackie (and Ben)
Posted: Travel
16
August
2006
Yesterday, after our exciting bomb threat evening, I had a quiet morning while Jackie headed off to class bright and early (poor her after all the Pimms!). At lunch time I went and picked up our rental car, and Jackie and I drove over to Debs’ house in Norfolk to spend the afternoon with her and her family. Jackie and I spent most of the afternoon using up what little energy we had racing Alexander and Alice around the tennis court and jumping on the trampoline. The racing more involved me carrying them round the court though As the afternoon passed we moved on to relaxing over a glass of Pimms, while Alexander cooked us dinner on the bbq and Jackie and Debs put together a salad using Alexander and Alice’s home grown veggies. Dinner was delicious and it was good to meet Joe, and catch up with Debs, Alice and Alexander (and do a little exercise). After dinner and some yummy meringue, We drove back to Cambridge and had a nice early night (how unusual!).
This morning we got up at 7.45 (crazy 
), had breakfast and drove over to Ely (pronounced Eel-y since it’s named after eels in the marshes apparently). The cathedral there was huge and beautiful, with an impressive ‘octagon’ tower at it’s center. I now plan on having a nice relaxing afternoon doing nothing to hopefully reduce the bags under my eyes before formal dinner tonight.
Enjoy all the photos!
Ben
Posted: Travel
