Shopping in London - don't do it! (do free stuff instead)

According to a Mercer Consulting survey (consultants - beware!) =) - here are the most expensive cities in the world ...

1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Osaka, Japan
3. London, United Kingdom
4. Moscow, Russia
5. Seoul, South Korea
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Zurich, Switzerland
8. Copenhagen, Denmark
9. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
10. Oslo, Norway
11. Milan, Italy
12. Paris, France
13. New York City, United States
14. Dublin, Ireland
15. St. Petersburg, Russia
16. Vienna, Austria
17. Rome, Italy
18. Stockholm, Sweden
19. Beijing, China
20. Sydney, Australia

I don't know if I can believe Sydney is the 20th most expensive - nor Hong Kong more expensive than New York?! - but I DO believe that London is at least the third most expensive city on earth. It is not cheap: here stands the owner of the famous Harrod's store, Mohammed Al-Fayed (a wax replica thereof, that is, in his store). Harrod's is ridiculously expensive, which makes me wonder if most of the people in the store are like me (visitors, not buyers) ...



And yes, the following is actually also in Harrod's, in their themed "Egyptian Room" (which sells things that have nothing to do with Egypt!):



Even in the cheaper markets at the edge of town, all they seem to sell is weird stuff:



... The solution, of course, is to sample London's free stuff. One of the best places is the incredible British Museum ...



... or to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace ...



... or feed the birds (and dogs!) in the parks!

It's just not British: sights to see in London in winter

One thing I am a big fan of is London architecture. Whilst I'm told other European cities are much prettier, there is something to be said for these endless, short-storied apartment blocks that seem to go on forever ... the following picture is taken on the street where I was staying in Bayswater:



There's lots of cool old stuff too. From the majestic St Paul's Cathedral ...



... to the historic tower of London, which used to guard against bad guys. Or so they say. Now to get in, it's a princely 15 pounds (almost $40!) just to see the crown jewels! A cheaper option is to go ice skating near the moat next to the tower ...



... Apart from that, there's cool historic/old/antiquated/nice-looking buildings and statues everywhere, dotted around shops and train stations ...

London by day: Hyde Park and Kensington Palace

London ... it's a pretty amazing place. Hyde park in particular is gorgeous, containing endless gorgeous trees ...



... beautiful fountains and ducks in the Serpentine river (man made!)




Plenty of dogs and cats going for walks ...



And Kensington palace, where Lady Diana lived.



We would've gone and checked out her exhibition, but it was 11 pounds (about $27 AUD) to get in. Yikes, I'll check it out on the net for free! =)

Welcome to London (by night)

Well, my first time in London, and all I can say is that it is COLD!

That being said, London by night (particularly its bustling West End), is a beautiful, buzzing metropolis. From its Chinatowns ...



... to its huge range of theatres and concert halls (even more than Broadway!). Here is the royal Albert Hall:



This is Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square - supported by one of the tens of thousands of red buses ...



... not to mention Trafalgar Square itself (which was pretty boring, I must say! If there was an entry fee I'd feel ripped off!)



Though seriously many of the buildings look the same! from both sky and up close ... it's just not British (well, actually it is!)



... London: Best viewed whilst watching Les Miserables (what a musical!).

Big game - it's kind of a big deal (Part 1)

So, on the Saturday before thanksgiving (this year anyway), there is the biggest football game of the year - imaginatively titled THE BIG GAME. On this game, in a tradition spanning over 100 years (I think), Stanford takes on its main rival, the University of California: Berkeley; or 'Cal' for short (not to be confused with 'Hal' from 2001, but they're also a really tech-focused university with twice the number of students, locationed 30 minutes away).

EVERYONE (almost) gets into the big game. Tickets to get in are $80 Australian for the worst seats (!), people go crazy about it on campus the week before, it's fantastic! For example, there are 'BEAT CAL' signs up all around campus ...



... and a big board with how many hours to go before the game (lucky it's not too cold at night here!) =)



Undergraduate students (these kids nowadays! =) ) who spend the whole day shouting 'why don't you wear red?' at other students going past ...



And a whole lot of other students wearing shirts with interesting messages and slogans printed on them ...



College sports in America ... it really is huge! Or should I say, BIG!

Big game - it's kind of a big deal (Part 2)

Two nights before big game, it was time for the traditional PEP RALLY. This is basically where all the members of the football team come to a temporary stage at night, say a few words of inspiration to the crowd, and generally get psyched up to win. For those of you who've seen the 'You can do it!' scene from Waterboy (ah ... what a movie), that summarises the reality fairly well.

But first up, the set up was absolutely gorgeous. They took the hoover tower, the tallest point on campus (some 100 metres into the air i think!) and lit it up our school colours, decorating it with stage and posters ...



There were HEAPS of people there (admittedly mostly undergraduates ... but this was the bachelor's college experience I never had!)



After much shouting and pumping music, the college football players came on, to get on the microphone and say some tough words.



They weren't that inspirational - in fact, this was cheesy American at its finest. Here are some of my favourite quotes:

'I had a dream last night! [cheers] And it was that, it was the big game! [more cheers]And I dreamt that we beat CAL by 2 touchdowns!! [crazy cheering] But then I knew it was a dream ... [quasi-silence] because we're going to beat them by much more than that! [uncontrolled cheering]

'Cal is poo!' [cheers]

It was then time to bring on our war cry leaders and our mascot, the dancing tree. There were some appalling warcries:

'Who sucks? - Cal sucks!'

And our newest warcry: 'Leland ... Stanford ... Junior ... University ... Established ... 1891 ... yay!'



Before I wanted it all to end, it was over. At least, however, like all good events, there were free pretzels and churros to celebrate with ...

Big game - it's kind of a big deal (Part 3)

For many of us, however, Big Game was just an opportunity to party like it was 1999 (or whatever the new equivalent is). We had a huge party on the Friday night at one of the second year's houses (complete with a borrowed stage!) and then the usual tail gate festivities (that's where we have BBQs etc before the game begins ... lots of fun).

Stanford was ABSOLUTELY BUZZING. With a capacity of 70,000 in the stadium, most of the campus were filled with both Stanford and Cal supporters having BBQs and fun. Here's the Cal band giving a small performance at just one of the Cal BBQs ...



It was then time to settle in to watch this much-anticpated game. And if you thought the Cal band was good when it was small, their full band - well over 200 members - is extraordinary - with exquisite formations (see below for arrow formation, not to mention their ability to spell 'CAL' in capital letters then morph to cursive, all whilst playing!) ...





Unfortunately for us, so were their players. We lost 27-3, one of the biggest losses in history. At least Angie was there to share in the fun/shame/hot dogs!



blessings
john

My upcoming travel plans ...

Hey everyone,

sorry I haven't written for a while. It's been a bit of a crazy week, with massive assignments due in my Strategy Leadership of non-profits class (25%) and Global and International Marketing class (35% of total assessment). Seeing we had six weeks to do these assignments, one would expect that leaving it until the day or two before would result in some pretty late nights ... and it did ...

Over the next few months, I'll be going LOTS and LOTS of places - including back home for Christmas (insert wild cheering and applause!). Here is my schedule:

• This Sunday (20th): Fly to LONDON for "Eurotrek" - a recruiting event for MBAs at American schools looking to work in Europe. And, since we qualified for Germany 2006 (I was up to 4am my time watching the text commentary live on the internet!), working in Europe over summer (same time as the World Cup) is priority number ONE.
• Sunday 27th November: Return to SAN FRANCISCO from London for one week of classes, then a few final exams (and Christmas parties of course)
• Thursday 15th December: Fly to SYDNEY - But this will take almost 48 hours (it was VERY hard to get a ticket). San Fran - Hawaii - Manila - Melbourne - Sydney ... yuk, yuk, yuk ...
• Sunday 18th December: Arrive in SYDNEY for 10 days of Christmas! Looking forward to see you all
• Wednesday 28th December: Fly to MANILA, Phillipines for a two-week "Study trip" where about 20 of us MBAs travel around, meet people, eat, chat, talk, learn ...
• Monday 9th January 2007: Arrive in SAN FRANCISCO late at night, just in time to start class the very next day ... =)

... Should be a lot of cool stuff to look forward to, especially seeing you all again. But as for now, it's time to catch up on sleep ...

Blessings
john

A weekend in Santa Cruz (not to be confused with Santa Claus)

Apologies for not having written so long. Things have been VERY busy, and will continue to be so for some time ...

... Last weekend, however, was one for rest: about 50 graduate (ie Master's or PhD) Christian students from around Stanford gathered together for the yearly fellowship retreat, nestled in gorgeous Santa Cruz (about 1 hours' drive away from campus).

Santa Cruz boast lots of excellent, tall trees, just like out of some kind of American family drama series ... (though not Desparate Housewives I guess!)



... As well as some magnificent beaches and cliffs. We basically spent the afternoon walking all around from here ...



... to here ...



Of course, like any other great church camp, there were lots and lots of snacks (here was our supply for the car ride!) ...



Those annoying get-to-know-you games such as "Old McDonald" and "Musical fact chairs" played in a big circle ... (shudder)



... And some other great tings: good talks, discussion groups, ping pong - and toasting marshmallows under a gorgeous starry Californian night ...



It was great fun! Now, back to work ...

Blessings
john

Halloween: It's a big deal in the states

From what I can recall when I was a kid, Halloween was a bit of a fizzer in Australia. Trick or treating never really took off, and the whole privacy/child protection/litigation culture stuff really killed that off. Which was good for me, because I was never active enough to bother dressing up and walking around the neighbourhood in a costume, and I always forgot to buy sweets the day of Halloween anyway ...

... Not so in the states. Here it is a BIG DEAL. In San Fran alone, they have this massive street party with around half a million people dressed up in costumes. Not necessarily scary costumes, just costumes of ... well ... anything ...

For us MBAs, the Halloween party is a big one. It begins earlier in the day with the "human costume" competition, where all the guys competed with how they managed to style their facial hair after not shaving for 30 days. Here's the judging panel in the courtyard of our apartment block ...



Then at night, about 80% of the business school (in total, from 2 years, 600+ people) pack into a club ... [insert weird aerial shot here]



All dressed up as various things. We have Harlem Globetrotters, people dressed as famous staff members, lots of doctors and nurses - some people really put HEAPS of effort in.

As for me, I found a big brown hooded thing for $2.50 and a mask for $2 which I managed to put over myself to pass as "the executioner" ... [pictured here with some other people in my year]



This was complete with my weapon (I couldn't find an axe-looking thing, so I just had a wok with "AXE" written on it. It was lame so I kind of ditched it ...)

Happy November!

Blessings
john