Mark & Sarah in the UKAdventures throughout the UK

Visiting the Aussies (and Ideal Home Show)

Sarah and I spent the day in London.

Out aim was to show Sarah where I work and to visit the Australia Shop. This place was cool. Upstairs there was standard touristy stuff, Australian flags, kangaroo toys and corny stuff like that. Downstairs however, is a goldmine of Australian food and beverage. Everything from VB to Kraft Peanut butter. From Allens Snakes Alive to Nappi-san. All the stuff an ex-pat aussie needs to stay sane!

Due to the astronomical prices we only came away with a few items.

1 x Pack Lifesavers (£0.75 or so)
1 x Small Pack Twisties (£1.20)
1 x Vita-weet original (about £2.50)
1 x Arnotts Pizza Shapes (about £2.50)
1 x Arnotts Tim Tams (£2.95)

All up it ended up being about £8.95. Yes, thats over $AUD 20.00 for those items!! It _is_ worth it though.

After visiting the Aussies we decided to visit the Yanks, and had lunch in TGI Fridays, also located in Covent Garden. There are a large amount of ex-pat stores, bars and restaurants around Covent Garden, but a quick walk through The Walkabout Inn and we knew we didn't want to have lunch there.

After this it was time to go to the Ideal Homes Show in the Earls Court Convention Center. The size of this convention center boggles the mind. No convention center in Australia comes close, except maybe the new unfinished one in Perth. Although the show contained everything to do with homes we were specifically looking for potential furniture now that our sofas are arriving tomorrow. Raft furniture really stood out from the crowd. They make tables, chairs, ottomans, and more all from reclaimed (ie, pre-used) timber, and they can provide a range of stained finishes to suit the color you need. Best of all, their prices are very reasonable compared to some of the extortionist prices charged by other companies.

I'll post some photocam pictures of the sofas when they arrive tomorrow.

over and out.

Posted by Mark at March 20, 2004 09:56 PM | TrackBack