November

Happier having found a home (brand new apartment in Dalston Square) and Jess once again working we launched into November. It was Liamś birthday early in the month so we joined him for an after work beer in Camden before he made his way on to a hip hop gig and we slunk off home.

We also got introduced to "meat" via Aimee, her boyfriend Steve and our part time flatmate Lucy (who spent the rest of her time at her actual house in Jersey.) There are loads of Turkish restaurants in Dalston and they reckoned they knew the best one. It was basic but packed with one man cooking the meat over a hot coal stove in the centre of the restaurant. Watch out for stray coals! There was more than enough meat to go around and after feeling sufficiently full we retired to a proper local East End boozer for a few drinks before wandering back home.

The next night there was a meet the neighbours event in our apartment block so we decided it would be rude not to go along and meet some people over a couple of wines. As it turns out the complex was full of young people, all whom seemed really nice and laid back. It was also bonfire night so Steve and Aimee took us out to a local fireworks display at Weavers' Fields. With many of the Councilś canceling their displays due to budget cuts we weren't expecting too much and although it was nice enough it wasn't the most spectacular thing we had ever seen. We then found a spot at the local pub, the Marquis of Cornwallis, another East End boozer and apparently a former haunt of the notorious Cray Twins. We chatted with the locals and had a great night. The night ended with sprint races down the hallway and sparklers on the deck. We agreed that a move east was the right thing to do.

We also had a chance to meet more of our neighbours the following weekend. One of the people we had met the week before was having a flatwarming and had invited us along. We hoped it hadn't just been the wine talking so we took him up on his offer. Turns out there were a few other people from the building there so we got to put some names to people we might otherwise only see in the lift or at the gym (not much chance of that though...)

Social outings continued as the following weekend we were lucky enough to get to see our friends Daryl and George performing in Piccadilly with their band Throwing Needles. We had missed their previous gig as we were on our van trip so it was great to get to see them live. It was also great that all of the local troops had come out in support too. It was a fun night listening to them play and they were easily the best band playing that night (in our biased opinion anyway.)

The next night we were out with the same crew again for Tree's Birthday at the Queen's Head in Camden. We had never been there and assumed it was a bit of a standard big pub. Turns out it is one of the most popular places in Islington with a big dance floor upstairs. It was a good night out but we took our leave before the party really started cranking and there was no chance of us getting away.

It was back to Islington with Tree again that week for an old hobby, the pub quiz. Tree had a group of friends who were meeting and had invited us to tag along. As usual our lack of British Sport/TV/History knowledge ruled us out of any chance of winning something but it was still good fun anyway.

We ended the month on a more serious note, heading down to the New Zealand embassy to participate in democracy by casting our votes in New Zealand National Election. It was a bit weird being surrounded by so many New Zealand accents but we took it all in our stride. The next day we joined some of our friends to watch the results live on the big screen via the internet at a pub in Kentish Town. It being a Green Party event (not any indication of how we voted) there was a sad mood in the air from some of the attendees but it was still good to be with other Kiwis as the results came in.

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