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Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009

It's been one calander week since myself and my lady friend made the final move to London and well over a month since I posted on my beloved Gamespot, so what better time than now to write an exaustive list of the better and worst points of live in Europe's largest city. LETS DO THIS!

Green = Good Times
Red = Bad Times

The Tube - Though I'm sure (like rollercoaster testers) the novelty wears off, the underground is simply superb. Excellently well run, fairly priced (with an Oyster) and at least in my experience so far, puntual and fast. Buses aren't bad either. I've never seen public transport like it.

Groceries - Oh man is stuff cheap here. Economies of scale is the winner over here with Basic fruit & veg, milk, meat, beer (shops and bars) and medicine being almost half the price in some shops. Even when you factor in the Euro-Sterling thing. Speaking of which...

Sterling - A minor gripe. It just feels silly that I can go to Italy or Eastern Europe with my Euro, but have to exchange it for Queen-moneys when take a 1 hour plane trip.

iPlayer, 4OD & Spotify - As a *cough* TV licence holder, I've access to all the free on demand and live broadcasts from national broadcasters. Watched Wimbledon live on my PC this week. No internet in my flat yet though, I'm posting this with my dongle hanging out my window, 150feet in the air. Spotify is genuis too.

No Car - *sniffle*, I miss being able to drive to the local beach or mountains for a day with nature. At least the views here are amazing....

Views from Apartment - (see below) I wake up in the morning and see south London glistening in the morning hue. Its glorious up here. Im a sucker for views, we can see hills 20 miles away from my old house in Ireland, so getting an appartment this high was fantastic. We're right beside the 2012 Olympic village site, which is facinating to watch being built. Free residents gym too, so bye bye love handles!

View

No Tayo Crisps or Decent Cider - Im Irish, I love Tayto crisps and miss them dearly. Most Irish children are raised on a diet of Tayto, its in our genes! Also I know understand why Bulmers is called 'Magners' overe here, its because another 'Bulmers' cider exists overe here, which tastes better actually. Not that it matter, im not really drinking as Im going to the gym.

Entering Gamespot UK Competitions - The main reason I moved over actually. No more will I be denied access to sweet-ass-prizes because of the xenaphobic policies of Gamespot Uk (i jest!)

Stuff to do - Its Endless. Theater, music, arcades, museums... you could never get bored here. And if you are, try living in Cork for a year....

Price of Games - Though my 30% staff discount in HMV is now lost to me, the price of games in the UK are so insanely cheaper it makes me wonder why we pay so much back home. In fact Im now convinced the reason HMV Ireland were the cheapest back home was because they were using the UK pricing schema. Note to anybody in Ireland, buy your games in HMV!


Thats all I can think of right now. I'll probably follow up with another next week, but for now its back to the problem at hand, job hunting! Im living in Stratford, East London for those of you who want to know. If you guys have any tips or comments about life in the capitol, let me know.

Danny

Category: Travel
Posted by dannyodwyer, 3:18am
34 Comments | Post a Comment

Comments

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That was interesting. I've lived here all my life and I don't find this city to be that amazing. Mind you I do like central London, especially Camden, and the food court there. China Town is also a personal fave. My local area is dull and boring though, you'd think living next to Southall would add a bit of spice but no. It's Grey and bleak lol.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 3:40 am PT
Cheese and onion sounds like a dangerous combination! No wonder they're not available in England.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:05 am PT
Not having a car might actually be a good thing, using and maintaining one is so expensive, the public travel system more than takes care of the car free folk.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:15 am PT
Seems the good outweighs the bad by more than 2:1. Not a bad start! Plus, I just discovered that I can count!
Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:20 am PT
@CitizenOne - Im looking forward to spending time in the various boroughs. Was staying with a mate in Bethnal Green last week, really love the bars down Brick lane in whitechaple. Visiting a friend in Kingston tomorrow. Its amazing how diverse each area is.

@Foolz3h - Actually Cheese & Onion is like 'default' flavour both in Ireland and the UK - Its just that Walkers and the other pretenders dont have the specific blend of Cheese & Onion I desire

@Tamz - True that. Even the trains out of the city are amazing. Going to Brighton on Saturday for the day and its going to take less than 90mins.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:23 am PT
Well it seems the good outweigh the bad for the time being, which is probably a good thing. I actually thought London was supposed to be expensive but I assume it might be because of the area you are in amongst other things.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:32 am PT
@EarthThatWas Sweet Math. Wanna do my taxes?

@Darrogamer06 Well the rent more than makes up for the cheap products and services
Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:35 am PT
You should try Birmingham. If not for the Bull Ring then for the hilarious accent

I don't have a Brummie accent because I'm not from Birmingham, technically...

... yeah...
Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:37 am PT
I was amazed by the transport when I went to London. The tube was great. You get a leaf on the track here and Merseyrail shut down every train in a 20 mile radius. Is it a nice area you're in?
Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:38 am PT
@ pandaramaster Yea I had a mate in college there, enjoyed my time there. Played the wii for the first time in the bullring actually. Got sloshed in Snobs too

@Big_Bad_Sad Yea, the Irish Government destroyed most of the rail lines in the 50's and 60's when cars became more popular. Idiots. Stratford would be a low-wage area, but its getting insane redevelopment from the 2012 Olympic fund.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:41 am PT
So bye bye love handles... yours or hers? Yep. I went there! I think I'd be far too scared to up and move to a new country.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 5:19 am PT
@bacchus2 Mine. She doesn't have any god bless her
Posted Jul 1, 2009 5:21 am PT
Congrats on the move! I crossed the country here in the states without a job, and though we struggled for a few months, finding a good job was easier living in a bigger city (I upgraded from a city of 20,000 to 1 million). Funny that you just left Ireland, because my parents did too. They are living in Italy right now for my dad's job and they took a trip up to Ireland to see a friend's daughter get married at a traditional irish wedding. They loved it up there and had a great time. True to stereotype, they said the alcohol flowed long into the night.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 5:42 am PT
@yeah_write Good to know man, cheers, this jobhunting can get you down eh? I went from 45,000 to 7million Glad your parents enjoyed my country, I love a good wedding back home Any idea where they were?
Posted Jul 1, 2009 5:53 am PT
YOU'RE HERE?

DOOOOODDDDER

Cool man, and trust me, the tube's allure will wear off Trust me you don't need a car though, you can get to almost anything using a bus or a train. I guess it's nice having one though. Also we do have tayto crisps, you just have to look hard enough. Saying that i frequently work in a pub known as the Catholic club, which is probably why i know what they are. Cork is amazing, so shhh. Also , games really aren't that cheap over here :S are they?
Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:00 am PT
also be prepared to see me around olympic village hunting your flat down. Those side quests of infamous will pay off when i'm able to use that photo to deduce exactly where you are. Also word of advice? ignore anyone asking for directions and try not to ask for them yourself. When you do ask for directions you get dirty looks as you are clearly holding them up. And when you answer their questions, they only repeat them again and again to double check. Also let me know when CG2 is up
Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:03 am PT
I'm actually going to check out colleges next year in England, one that is not too far away from London, a city that I have always wanted to live in.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:44 am PT
I want to move back to London. I absolutely loved the city, I was born in Kensington

Glad you have more pros than cons!
Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:46 am PT
A perk of living in London is like you said loads of things to do, you'll never get bored. Plus pubs are about 5 minutes apart from each other =).
Posted Jul 1, 2009 8:36 am PT
From what i understand you dont need a TV licence to watch TV purely on-demand, but you do if you are watching TV live.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 9:23 am PT
@doc18 all notes taken. We gotta have a CG meetup soon. You up for it?
Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:17 pm PT
Sure, why not? We should all have a big meet up

Or am I intruding again...
Posted Jul 1, 2009 2:48 pm PT
danny, as long as it is a meet up at leicester square for the premiere of Citizen Game, I am in. That or the promise of same aspect of gaming during the day.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 3:46 pm PT
also if you want, i'll nick a box of tayto crisps from the pub i work at, if not a box, then half of one.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 3:47 pm PT
One of the few perks of being underage and serving 70 year olds...
Posted Jul 1, 2009 3:47 pm PT
also as dennis is not in london and you are, are you going to find a replacement ginger guy?
Posted Jul 1, 2009 3:48 pm PT
Might organise a gaming day out here in Stratford for somtime next week.
Or the trocadero or somthing. Let me work on it. Pandara, you in London?
Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:07 pm PT
Nice to hear from you Damn you live very close to my older sister she doesn't live far from Stratford. BTW If you miss Tayto crisps that much just give me a shout, I send packs over for my sister every few months (as well as red lemonade) so I can try send you some. I wish I could move over to London too but I can't bear to leave my boyfriend.
Posted Jul 1, 2009 6:24 pm PT
I can easily get to London, no sweats. I have no commitments
Posted Jul 1, 2009 10:36 pm PT
Wow, sounds cool! And the view from ur appartement is stunning!
Good luck with the job hunting!
Posted Jul 2, 2009 6:37 am PT
well i am glad to hear things are going good for your Danny. moving can be a bit of ordeal, but it seems as though you have handled it well. good luck with your new locale, keep us posted!
Posted Jul 2, 2009 1:35 pm PT
Man it really does seem like another world over there. Where I live (TX), we have barely any public transportation. So we have four cars in my family (one for each of us) and the freedom is nice but keeping them up and everything is a job in itself. I would love to visit Europe and attend what you guys call football over there and see how your game stacks up against ours, cause where I live, football is king. GO LONGHORNS!
Posted Jul 3, 2009 1:59 pm PT
Oh and I used to work with a dude who lived in Scotland, he said he likes it here more cause we have buffets and free refills. You guys have buffets and free refills right? Maybe he was joking?????
Posted Jul 3, 2009 2:01 pm PT
[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]
Posted Jul 3, 2009 2:35 pm PT
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