post 10, Tiago w10

Tiago, one of my oldest friends. He once went to a halloween party dressed as a Chilean miner - and it turns out the attendees of the party thought it was a little too soon to make such bad tasted jokes. He took me in as word on the street went round about my situation and posted on my facebook wall if I was doing OK and needed somewhere to stay. As it goes, I was at a loose end, as I felt my time spent at Sams was little too much. My feet had got really and truly comfortable under that kitchen table and very soon I was in Tiago's Notting Hill flat.

One thing I've noticed is I haven't spent much time in my pieces writing about the local area so today I'm going to focus primarily on that. Although Tiago very kindly offered me somewhere to stay he neglected to tell me that he worked rather long hours. Quite a lot of the time. So due to my lack of entry in forementioned flat I spent a lot of time dawdling around Notting Hill, and the more time I spent out there the more I enjoyed this pocket of west london. As true as I can stay to my East End roots Notting hill certainly has a lot to offer. The museum of brands was a particular favourite - and as a Media and Culture studies student it was particularly enjoyable looking at these nuggets of branding and packaging history. From the retro coca cola cans and its evolution through modern history to the old school spiderman poster it was a real time tunnel of consumerism patterns. Thouroughly recommended.

Another personal highlight was the electric cinema. Yet another night spent waiting around was filled up by the Luxury cinema, I went to see Contagion. As highly as I recommend the cinema I wouldn't recommend the movie. As well as the vintage velvet arm chairs, and two seater sofas offered to the doting couples, your ticket price also came with a footstand! Cinema-going in style.

Although my stay in W10 was enjoyable thanks to Tiagos good nature my props this time goes to the Notting Hill and hopefully my adventures will bring me back very soon.

Fizzy pop over the years.

Post 9 - Little Sams, E10

For the first time I've sat down and posted in this blog over the course of the last few months or so I genuinely feel decent. Not great, but decent. The lovely Sam and Rob have put me up in their spare room for the last week and have been nothing but the finest hosts and friends. I've been fed everyday and  pampered for the last week - I don't think i'll be ready to leave any time soon!

The guys had a BBQ the friday just gone, and another reason why my feet are well and truly and the table are because of Robs' mad cooking skills. The chicken had been marinated in jerk sauce over night and come the party they were delicious once they'd come off the grill. Everything down to the relishes and dips were made from scratch, he certainly doesn't do things by half. The bonfire was going at the bottom of the garden and everyone was enjoying watching the flames flicker with marshmallows on sticks in hand. Definitely the chilled weekend I'd needed.

The one drawback has been I have recently discovered I am allergic to cats and the room I've been allocated technically belongs to the cats. So I've been roomsharing with two feline friends, and although it took us a while to come around to it we've become really good mates. I never used to be a cat person but Sherlock and Forrest (the two cats) have done a lot to bring me round.

Dinners up, bangers and mash.

Sam carrying my bag with all my worldly possesions

Everybody wants to be a cat.

Post 8 - Sylvia, NW1

Sylvia and I met at a networking party through the agency I used to model for quite a while back. We'd been arranging to catch up for a while now but it seemed like perfect timing when I recieved her text as I was asleep on the Jubilee line trying to catch up on some lost hours accumalated during the week. The problem with not having a home is if you have finished what you're doing such as uni or work for example, and have nowhere to go until the person you are arranging to meet up with is done doing whatever it is they are doing, you are in quite a predicament seeing as you have nowhere to go home to! So, once again I found myself on the tube going back and forth for a few hours in a bid to get some well earned rest. The Bakerloo line is one of my personal favourites, it's aged carraiges dont allow it to hit too hard a speed and it rocks gently from side to side on the rickety tracks to allow for a peaceful nap, almost cradle like.

"Hey Moe, long time no speak! Are you free anytime soon?" I ponder for a minute thinking if I had any plans. Well other than going from one end of the tube to other, not much for the time bieng. We arranged to meet up later that day in Angel. If I was to make a good impression I'd have to sort myself out and change from my jeans and ketchup stained Nirvana t-shirt so I went in to work at Ben Sherman on Carnaby St, made sure I stayed away from the managers in charge and "borrowed" a nice Albini shirt, quickly got changed in the toilet and gave myself a well-needed beard trimmer. Luckily for me the duty managers were in the middle of a meeting so I left my bag in the staff room - something the always tell me off for, and made my way down to Angel.


We were enjoying a few drinks and catching up, Sylvia was a very straight talking and dominant Italian young proffesional so I had to be on my best behaviour. I suppose it came with her job as the CEO of her own PR agency. After a while all of that went out of the window as the shots of vodka came out and soon after ended up back at hers to carry on the fun. She woke me up the next day with a Malboro light and asked what I wanted for breakfast and I told her I was fine for the time bieng. The beers from the night before were still very much swimming in my liver but the moment she explained she was having a bacon sandwich sent up by the 24 hour concierge I instantly felt better, it wasn't every day I got 5 star treatment so made the most of this oppurtinuty. She put on her dressing gown and we made our way on to the balcony with the most picturesque view of London. You could see everything from the docklands all the way across to the Eye, and slowly began remembering where I was. At the top of a 17 storey flat in the swanky part of Islington, this was definitely a highlight of my sofasurfing experiences. Soon after she kindly reminded me that she was late for work and this brought me back in to real world, I was getting used to this!

Beans on toast with chicken strips, the cure for any hangover.

The view from the balcony

Post 7, Nichola and co. - W1

I've just finished a long day at work and me and the boys hit a bar one of the new guys, Tom, suggested. As part of his welcoming process we decide to go out with him to the bar round the back of Carnaby street called 4-2-1. It isn't the kind of place I normally check into but thought it would be a nice change to the dingy drinking holes I'm used to. The usual Friday night buzz was hanging in the air and although the city crowd around soho wasn't one I was familiar with most people seemed good fun and we made our way to the bar where Tom introduced us to the girls on the other side and who were really friendly.

I went back to the bar to get my round in, not as apprehensively as usual as Tom had sorted us out with good deals on the pints and we were paying half standard price. Everything tastes better when it's cheaper. Nichola behind the bar asked me what the deal was with the hiking bag on my back and I explained my situation to her - bieng without a home and subtely dropping in I didn't actually have anywhere to stay for the night. Bit of a long shot but at least there was a slight chance I might have a cosy bed to sleep in. She offered to keep my bag till I left and I offered her a shot in return. "only if you do one with me" she smiled, her Aussie accent was very cute. I explained that I don't have enough money for the both of us so she poured one out for us on the house, and told me not to tell the manager. We engaged in a bit more small talk and poured me my pints for the boys, I handed her a tenner to which she gave me back a fiver in change and a wink. Thank you very much lovely Nichola

A little while later Nichola came out to join us for a cigarrette, looking slightly more tipsy then earlier, clearly carried on the fun as we'd been. What an awesome place to work. She'd joined us with another mate behind a bar and told us they'd snuck out for a cheeky fag while it was quiet. Her mate Faye introduced herself and told me Nichola had explained to me the pickle I was in and found out I'd been out that night with no idea where I'd be ending up. They both invited me and Tom back to theirs if the situation didn't improve but personally I didn't think it could. I've had such ridiculous luck with not actually having a home to my own and a lot of it has been down to the kindness of other people and really appreciated the offer and let them both know. Another close shave I thought to myself and wondered how long my carefree attitude would last till it came to bite me in the bum. The night went and me and the lads hung around till the girls finished work and we parted ways - and even more of a result the house was only a short walk in Soho. Touch!

Shopping list from Nichola and Faye

Post 6 - Chris, E11 and Hayley, SW4

Heaven on a plate

A few days later I felt like I was on the mend, I'd being staying at my oldest mate Chris' not too far from where I grew up and spent a nice few days catching up with old school friends, and we'd arranged to meet up one evening to catch the West ham vs Spurs game. I hadn't been to see my beloved Hammers play for a while and it was a nice evening with old mates and the beautiful thing about whenever we got together was no matter how much time we spent apart it would always be as if we were back at school. We spent a lot of time after the game reminiscing about the old days and it left me feeling as if I was getting on a bit, there was a re-union coming up at the end of the year for a 10 year anniversary. 10 years since we had our first day! I know I'm only 21 but even now I close my eyes and I'm back in maths class flicking pencils - a memory which seems so distant now. With my young illusions of grandeur I thought I'd be an academic high flyer by the time I was 21 - not homeless with a part time job and not much else to show.

Come on you Irons!

I spent a day back at my mums house - motivated mostly by the thought of a nice roast dinner. Spending the last few days on a cocktail of meds had me craving for a decent wholesome meal the minute my throat infection had cleared - and it was all timed perfectly. Chris' parents had been away so his neighbour was bringing us food and the whole at his place was nothing but pleasant other than the fact I discovered I was allergic to cats. And the fact that Chris didn't know how to turn on the heating so we had to go to bed everynight freezing our socks off. Luckily for us Friday night arrived quickly and it was the start of another fun filled weekend.

Hayleys room.

Our friend Hayley had thrown a party in her warehouse south of the river and they had a reputation for bieng hedonistic affairs, which she was entirely an advocate of. There was a hogroast that had been going for the past 8 hours so by the time we got there it was literally falling off the bone and ready to dish out, perfect timing. The night went on as most do at Hayleys and after an excessive night of alcohol drugs and sex flying around everywhere I needed to lay my head for a bit at around 7 in the morning and Hayley offered me her bed to stay in. One of her friends and another girl were having a fumble under the sheets and she shooed them out as blase as a child chasing a pigeon which in the state I was in completly suprised me. None the less it was refreshing to seeing someone with such a care free attitude about the whole thing and she placed me in bed and tucked me in. I asked her where she was staying as the Bass still pumped downstairs "Off to work mate" she told me. I laughed out loud at her and told her how much of a crazy mother fucker she was in a drunken babble and she agreed - and off she went.

Post 5 - Izzys E5

Isabelle Hazeldine, a good friend of mine from uni. Although we both spend more time outside of uni together than inside due to our terrible attendance - made worse this year by the inconvenience of not having a house. I was waiting for Izzy to finish work and had been completely knackered from the night before as I had to leave the party ridiculously early so spent most of my morning asleep on the Bakerloo line going back and forth in a desperate attempt to catch up on some sleep. I went in to class for the evening lecture and soon after made my way to Izzys, and as much as I love her I can't say I was looking forward to it. |The reason for this bieng Izzy, and her three house mates are big BIG drinkers and although I can hold more than my own the continuous late nights were beginning to take there toll on me and I was begining to come down with something

Dale serving breakfast.

I arrived at Izzys house and she greets me with our signature drink, Punch and Judy and shoved it in my hand. Rum and Vodka with Punch, laaaaaaavely. I walk in and say hello the the rest of the house all sitting around a deck of cards playing ring of fire. Never the one to be impolite I placed my bag down and got stuck in - and put the pain and tiredness my body was in to the back of my head. I woke up the next day with the hangover from hell, not for the first time after a "night in" with Izzy. My pain was eased when I could smell her housemate Dale cooking breakfast in the kitchen - full english. Perfect. We all sat down to tuck in and have a giggle about the night before but I was still feeling like I was at deaths door and my throat was refusing to allow entry to any solids in my throat, every bite I tried to get down was excruciating. I gave up on the breakfast and tried tea instead but even that was too painful.

A few hours later I was in a hospital bed, turns out I'd had acute tonsilitis the last few days and it had inflammed overnight. I couldnt swallow and when I looked in the mirror i could see the little ball at the back of my throat pushed completely to one side from the swollen tonsils, didn't look too good. One night too many I thought, but at least I'd have a decent nights sleep tonight. Not quite the case as I'd spent the next 24 hours bieng pumped with antibiotics and even worse, bored out of my skull. I'd had a few mates come and visit but was pretty pointless as I couldnt' speak much. Eventually my throat had more or less cleared up and although the doctor advised me to stay another night I discharged myself because I couldn't take the boredom any more. He left me with a weeks course anti biotics and a stern warning to stay off the sauce for a week. I wasn't complaining, I think my liver needed the rest.

 

My view from the hospital bed. Unfortunately me for the elderly gentleman opposite didn't quite realise how much of his nether regions were on show every time he went to throw up.

Post 4 - Lana N7

Since Brighton I've been taking it easy and crashing with a good mate from work but there wasn't much to report on so this post is about a night me and my old flat mate James had while we were out. It had been a while since we hung out properly and we'd arranged to go out for a freestyle hip-hop night in east london. He'd been commuting from Staffordshire to university while he was looking for a new place so naturally we weren't spending as much time together. As it had gone from living with someone to seeing someone pretty infrequently I'd been looking forward to hanging out, and I also wanted to check how his tattoo was getting on.

The gig itself was awesome, we had a few drinks out on the square before hand to keep costs down so were feeling a little toasted when we got in. It was like a scene out of 8 mile with the DJ's spinning and the crowd chanting and bieng skinny jean clad guys it was fair to say we felt a little out of place but we were soon put at ease as it was a lovely group. The rules of the hip hop battle consisted of the crowd shouting out 5 random words and the two MC's would go head to head in a rap battle using the 5 words layed on them by the crowd. The winner would be the one with the most cheers and would progress to the next round, and so on till the climactic final. Naturally some of them weren't so good which didn't go down too well with the fans and they didn't care to hold back.

It was getting on a bit and before we knew it, the time was 3 in the morning and we'd both spent the night at the front of the barrier getting stuck in. By the time we left we were pretty far down on the booze trail and realised neither of us had anywhere to stay, bieng homeless and all. We were outside in the smoking area and having discussed our options were gearing ourselves up for a night on the streets until a few guys we met in the club came over to us. We talked about our night and exchanged opinions on how the gig went and asked us where we going after as they were down for the weekend and fancied to carry the night on. We told them about our quandry and they offered us a place to stay at there hotel for the night - provided we can make it past security. Me and James kindly accepted there offer and suggested a bar we could go to and buy them a few drinks to make up for it. As we were leaving I heard my name shouted across the street - My friend Lana. She stumbled over and asked what on earth I was doing out at this night sarcastically to which I told her I could ask her the same thing. We explained our situation and she told us of a party going on not too far. We brought our new mates along and ended up dancing the night away, no need to worry about where I'll be sleeping that night as it'll be wherever I ended up zonking out.

Lana's housemate Nick sporting a funny tee.

TOO DESCRIPTIVE

Post 3 - Jordans, BN2

Yes that is a Brighton post code. Already a week in to my university year I decided I needed a break! In hindsight it was a pretty silly thing to do but I had an amazing time at it. My best mate Jordan had moved down a few weeks before and I thought I'd best let him settle in to uni life before I go and visit so seemed like perfect timing. I got there a few days before his housewarming party so I could catch up with a few friends that lived nearby as well and by Friday the rest of the gang turned up. We'd had previous experiences of the "lads on tour" mentality when the boys came to visit me up north while i was at uni up there - things are always more eventful when you travel a bit out of the way and it was no different down by the seaside.

The time of the party was upon us and it was lovely to meet Jordans new friends and flatmates. He lived with a lovely bunch and they'd taken to him which I was pleased to see and bieng second years they had already settled in to the uni life. Lily, one of the girls Jordan lived with had a mature student on her course that had been at the party and  I spent a lot of time talking to him and his plus one. As the night progressed Lily had explained to me in a drunken haze that the older guy I was talking to was actually at the party with a woman he was having an affair with! Fair play to him I thought and cracked open another can.

The party went on for a few more days, God knows how we find the energy sometimes. It was nearing the end of our stay and as we were tidying up my old housemate reminded me that we'd promised to get matching tattoos the night before. Now I'm not sure if I agreed to it bieng a good idea the next day - to get out of cleaning or still a little intoxicated but I agreed to it and before we caught our train back we hit the tattooist. We explained our ideas to him and the rest of the guys at the place were laughing there heads off - "428" the door number of the flat we used to share. Only live once I suppose.

James getting inked

Me, placed in my bed for a few days

Team photo down by the beach

Post 2 - Megans, E3

Firstly, you may be wondering why I'm still in the same post code as my old place. That's because Megan lives round the corner from me and it was the only place I could get to at short notice, and she nicely let me stay at hers for a few days till I made arrangements with her. To be honest I didn't envisage my big adventure to start more or less a stones throw from my house but I wasn't really complaining. It was a lovely encounter, we watched Sin City the first night as it was getting pretty late and we both had uni the next day. I got about my days there as if nothing had really changed, I was still getting the same busses to uni and essentially, not a lot really did. Of course I was down a few belongings but nothing I couldn't live without. I'd met Megan randomly - literally on the street, as my mate was talking to one of hers. She said she recognised me and asked if I lived around her area and turns out we were neighbours and have been friends since. 

The second night I stayed and we talked about where I was planning to go, and it turned out I didn't really have a solid plan. I kind of wanted to had down to eastern europe and turkey to begin with and end up in america eventually but other than that I didn't have much of a plan. "So you haven't really thought this throughhave you" Megan barks at me. "Not really" I tell her "but that's part of the beauty I suppose. I dunno maybe one day I'll wake up and decide I wana go to quebec. Nothing really stopping me is there!?" She lectures me on how I should be a bit more specific than that while she stirred intently in to that nights dinner.

Round the back of Mile end Co-operative. 

 

Luckily for me Megan was a keen freeganist and we both knew the area quite well so we hit the local mini markets in search of food thrown away that day. In the past we've had a fair bits of luck, from Innocent smoothies to strawberry and champagne cake but very often these endeavours can be hit and miss. Thankfully today was a good day and we came home and ate the fruits of our labour, a bit of pasta, some sausages and loads of veg. 50% of the worlds food is wasted from its original source all the way to its transition to the dinner table. Depending on how fussy an eater you are there is lots to be found and it's a brilliant to save money and ultimately the planet. I let Megan take over the cooking duties and very soon our freegan dinner is served. Hope all my stays around London can cook as well as Megan.

Dinners up!

Post 1 - Moving out, E3

So i'm sitting in my empty room, finally finished removing the last of the blue tac from my posters and pictures and taking in that these will be the last moments spent here. I've moved out of a few places over the years and it's still not easy to let go of the memories attached to the four walls where your head lay rest. I only made the decision to was move out earlier today so it was all still a bit of a whirlwind for me. Luckily for me I didn't really need to give any notice as I'd been renting off of my flatmates Sians' dad and even though I offered to stay a few weeks till they found someone new to move in Big Sean said I could leave whenever I felt it. Big Sean is my housemate Sians dad (well ex-housemate now), I always found it funny her parents decided to name her that.

Anyway, later that day I did what I'd vaguely planned to do for the preceeding weeks, gave most of my clothes, laptop and other nit bits to charity and threw out old photos and other bits and peices, which was incredibly hard as I consider myself bit of a hoarder. I love keeping things like old bus passes from Zagreb or a picture my mate drew of me when we were pissed but I thought if I got it over and done with quickly and and close mindedly it would be a bit less painful. I was eventually left with just about enough possesions to squeeze in to a hiking bag, down to a pair of trainers, two pairs of jeans, 5 t-shirts a few sweatshirts and a denim jacket. In the side compartments were my charger and toiletries and on the other side a towel. This is what I'll be living out for the next few years of my life. Pretty surprising and to an extent striking how much you really dont need when you think about it.  Just before I left to stay at my friend Megans place for a few days I called up Sian to my room to thank her for the last year - it had been truly amazing living in that flat above the barber shop in the East end and I made my way out, the first step of my adventure had begun.

Me and a few mates the night before I left. another alcohol fuelled night at the flat, scant disgregard for the fact that booze and roof ledges don't go well together and totally unaware I would be moving out less than 24 hours later.