Gaming stigmas

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past 20 years of my life and may not know, I am a proud gamer. 

Ever since ripping off the cellophane and scented protective wrapping from my very first games console - the SEGA Master System - I have been hooked in this fantastical virtual world. I have travelled along on this ride, and my gaming journey has included the Master Systems bigger brother, the SEGA MegaDrive. I then jumped to the PlayStation One, upgraded to the PlayStation 2 and then sold my soul to the devil himself. I defected to the dark side and joined to Microsoft Xbox 360 revolution. Then once I moved out here to Australia I was lucky enough to snag an Xbox One and I haven't turned back since. Feeling nostalgic in-between the PS2 & Xbox 360 eras I also bought a Gamecube and a Nintendo 64. Zelda Ocarina of Time was just too beautiful an opportunity to pass up, even in its pixelated glory. 

From the very first games to capture my imagination like Alex the Kid, Sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario, to powerhouse franchises like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Assassins Creed, Battlefield, FIFA, Far Cry, Crackdown, Gears of War and Fallout. Somewhere in the middle of those is the ever deepening abyss of indie games I have come to love. Most recently games such as Valiant Hearts, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Never Alone, The Walking Dead, Life is Strange and This War of Mine. Future ones I'll be sure to check out include, and are not limited to Gone Home, Oxenfree and the Flame in the Flood. 

Gaming does however often come with a powerful stigma attached. One of an army of spotty teenagers sweating in their bedrooms wasting their lives away in a multiplayer lobby, and also the twenty somethings who have lost all hope - who stay at home and play games all day instead of living their lives in the real world. 

It's grossly unfair. Gaming is a world where your poetic license runs free. Where your inner creative prowess can truly come to the fore. Where your moral compass is torn between what is right, what is wrong and what needs to be done in order to survive. 

I feel an affinity to games akin to that of football. A friend of mine actually asked me what could I not live without - gaming or football - and I chose gaming. My life just wouldn't feel complete without the chance to hold a controller in my hand and the ability to trot off into a 1080p 60FPS world, with a plethora of choices at my disposal. 

I'm 28 and I should probably be looking at things more subjectively, planning for rainy days, a family, my super annexation et cetera. But I should also be in touch with my own poetic license. My way to chill out, to relax and cool down. I'm thankful for my wife, Erin, and her limitless understanding of how important gaming is to me. She hasn't tried to change me, and she is fully supportive of my digital endeavours. 

Gaming, along with football is what defines who I am, and to a much larger extent, it is what defines gamers in general. I love the feeling of being in a games store and being able to talk to a complete stranger and I have this instant connection with them. I can talk freely from judgment and I am right there in their world with them and I feel not many hobbies allow for this. 

"Quadrant by quadrant" I once directed to a friend. And in all seriousness, gaming is exactly that. One small piece of beautiful creativity at a time.

It's been a while...

Having looked on my dashboard and noticing that the last blog post I did was way back on September 30th, I thought I would utilise this, my first Australia Day, to start writing what has been happening since then. There has been a lot, so do grab a cup of the finest Dilmah, maybe a wedding bonbonniere cookie too, and peruse at your leisure.

Since 30/09/14 a lot has happened. The most obvious is that Erin and I have moved heaps closer to the date that is consuming our lives at the moment. We sit nicely now at 62 days, at the time of writing, until we get to commit our lives to one another and the excitement and anticipation is most definitely tangible now. 

Part of this anticipation is largely down to the fact we, or to be more specific, Erin, has everything under control. I am so lucky to be marrying someone who is so staunchly organised. We've been in constant dialogue with the people we need to be and we have meetings and face-to-faces lined up in the next few weeks to get the final details sorted for the special day. People like the DJ and the videographer and are all lined up in the next coming weeks. On that subject we are so pleased with our videographer Max. His creative input, his vision and the way he shoots for the footage is beyond excellent. We like his humour and style and we both cannot wait to work with him again. 

We are almost out of January now and it'll be a novelty for us both, come February 1st, to be able to say, "I get married next month!". It seems like the two of us have waited so long to be able to make this next step of our journey through life together. 

I went to my first place outside of Sydney in late November, as Erin sprung a surprise trip to Darwin on me. What I thought was going to be just the two of us off to see her friend Alex up there, soon turned into the majority of her bridal party and I going up to see Alex, as we were joined in the Sydney Domestic Terminal a little later by Emily and Hannah, and then the next day by Lou.
Darwin was a massive eye opener for me. Not least of all because the heat and more specifically, the humidity, was nothing like I have ever experienced before. 
The best way I can describe it, is that for the duration of our time there, I felt like I was in a perennial state of just coming out of a shower. You know when you've partly dried yourself, but you're not fully dry yet? That semi wet/semi dry phase? That's how I felt for my whole time in Darwin. 
Darwin itself was so much smaller than I anticipated it would be. The centre is literally 4 roads parallel, roughly 500-750 meters in length and that is practically it for the main hub and centre of Darwin. 
We stayed in a place called Parap which was lovely, it was close to Alex and had a good cultural scene. There were some nice markets on at the weekend which introduced you to a whole heap of different cuisines and people from a heap of different ethnicities. 
If this wasn't your cup of Dilmah, then Australian institutions such as Crust and The Cheesecake Shop were a mere, sweaty stroll away. 
Darwin most notably, is known for its indigenous culture, or as we know them more commonly - Aboriginals. Again it was an eye opener to see how they live. They don't know any better than the life they live and as such, because of their country failing them, they are content with this squalid life they live. I never once saw an unhappy Aboriginal person in Darwin and they all wore smiles as big as their faces. 
The other side of Darwin I loved was its self penchant for serenity. A complete juxtaposition from what can be found in some places of Dariwn, I was able to see some of the most picturesque places I've seen. 
We had a Wolf Creek-esque journey down some very Australian looking outback roads, to Litchfield National Park and once there were able to swim with some over friendly fish, complete with waterfall and a GoPro.

On another day in Darwin we went to Lake Alexander which was stiflingly hot. So much so I was burnt, but then again that has proved to be quite easy and a regular occurrence since being here. 
It got too hot for me, that I decided in my wisdom, that rather than sitting down and becoming suceptible to the elements, I would walk around the lake and not be susceptible to them. 
Little did I know that on the other side of the Lake was a breeding ground for some rather protective Birds, and they didn't take too kindly to a thong (flip flops UK) wearing Pom encroaching on their safe haven. Swoop after swoop left me a little scared and I decided the best thing to do in this situation would be to fucking run for it! 

Lake Alexander, in Darwin. Very hot. 

Darwin did have a major plus for me. It has been the only place I have been able to order a Pint of lager since being in Australia. You can always count on the Irish to cheer you up when your sunburn is bringing you down. #firstworldproblems #sorrynotsorry

 A pint of Toohye's New. A PINT!!! 

Our last night was spent doing what Australians do best, drink beer on top of cliffs whilst watching the sunset. It was quite a fitting end to what was a great trip, spent in excellent company. We even raised wry smiles from some Aboriginal people who had congregated on a park bench. 

Sunset at Nightcliff, Darwin. 

Moving onto Christmas and what was a lovely time this year for us (as last year was bittersweet because I was leaving a few weeks later). 
We were able to spend it with some amazing people and we definitely overindulged and it wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't. 
Christmas Day was spent here at Casa Watters in the morning, and then we made the leisurely drive down to Austinmer to spend time with the Camerons. The weather was glorious. It was hot, humid and the air conditioning at their place was a godsend for someone so used to ice and thermals on 25/12.

Merry Christmas ya filthy animal! 

The journey home from Austinmer was a complete juxtaposition when compared to the journey there. We encountered the most biblical of storms and had to proceed with caution for around 30 minutes of a journey that should take roughly one hour. 


There have been changes in my job too. My Working Holiday Visa restrictions means I had to cut short my tenure in the Local Court system after only 6 months. Reflecting on that time and looking back, I have learnt some very valuable things about myself, and also about others. Others less fortunate than myself. 
The big thing for me, and I touched on it in a previous blog post was that you should never judge a book by its cover, and working in a courtroom, and with our clients face-to-face taught me that very early on. 
Someone you might be adamant is guilty, "just by looking at them" turns out to be not guilty and you've learnt a very big lesson. 
I will always be grateful of the opportunity to work in such a vibrant and diverse setting, with some lovely people. I'm sure if an opportunity presented itself in the future to work in the Local Court system I would give it some considerable thought.
Can I see myself on the Magistrate's bench in the future? No, absolutely not. But whilst I pursue other avenues it could be just the right fit for me to work in that kind of environment. 

So, my new job is still within the New South Wales Civil Service (what is it about Government jobs eh?), but for this one I have moved over into the Department of Education. I'm working as part of OTEN (Open Training and Education Network) which is the largest provider of distance education and vocational training in Australia.  
It's a digital evolution of classroom teaching and I'm on the, ahem, "frontline" in terms of answering queries and questions any of our clients might have. I've only been there one week at present, and I see it definitely as stop gap measure for me to be able to earn some quick bucks to tide us both over until the wedding, ($26 p/h to be precise) and I am learning more and more about myself in such an interesting and fast paced office environment. 
A big plus for this job too, is that I get to commute on the train to and from work as of tomorrow, so I will get a better perspective of places, where they are, and that should help me in the long run to be able to familiarise myself with the inner-west of Sydney that little bit better than I do at present. I know how to get from home to work in the car quite competently (I even know a few different ways too), but if there was an accident en-route and I had to deviate I would be up the proverbial creek without a paddle and I think being able to see more of Sydney and familiarising myself with the rail network will be a massive advantage for me. 
Erin might not agree, but I am really looking forward to the weekly commute starting tomorrow. Maybe ask me in a few weeks time though and I might not be of the same opinion...

Away from work now, and the consummation of my life within Civil Services. Trips have been planned and will continue to be planned for when the English contingent make their way over. 
I recently booked a one night stay for my Groomsman Dan and I in an "Earth House" in the Blue Mountains. Dan has a penchant for photography and right near the top of his bucket list of things to do while in Sydney was to visit the Blue Mountains for some decent photo opportunities. I'm really looking forward to it as I've not seen him for what seems like an eternity and it will be great to be just able to chill out and have a few beers with him and catch up on things that we both might have missed out on, being on opposite sides of the world - although not for too much longer! 
We still have to get him measured up for his suit but that will be the least of our worries. I think Asahi down by the surf is much higher (although probably not that wise - suit first) on our list of priorities. 

On the subject of suits and the paraphernalia that comes with it, Erin and I spent what felt like a lifetime in Myer this weekend, finally managing to buy the shirts, ties and socks for all the guys. 
I also managed to find my shoes for the wedding too, so yesterday was a mightily productive day on both of our parts. 

CK for the Big Day!

So once the day is finally over, both Erin and I take an, as yet unbooked vehicle to the Intercontinental Sydney where we will sleep roughly 6 hours, before we then make our way to the airport to jet off on our Honeymoon, something we were both adamant we wanted to do. It would have been nice to spend some additional time with the people over from England before they make their own journeys back home, but we really wanted to be on that plane that next day to be able to spend time together as Mr & Mrs Evans. 

For those who might not know, and for those would like to live vicariously though us, we are off to Vietnam for the Honeymoon - a place I have longed to visit. My inner war veteran will have to be contained in such a place, as it would be harsh of me to drag Erin to all the temples and war shrines on our honeymoon! :D

First place we stay is Amiana Resort in Nha Trang, in what is described as a "Ocean Villa", for 7 nights.

Then from Amiana, we are transferred by them, to Mia Resort, also in Nha Trang, for 3 nights in a "Cliff Villa".

Once our time is up at Mia, we are shuttled to the airport by them, to then catch a short flight from CXR (Nha Trang) to SGN (Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City) as I persuaded Erin to stay two nights in the Intercontinental Asiana Saigon on our way back to Sydney. Both rooms have been booked at both the Intercontinental Hotels in Sydney and Ho Chi Minh, but are subject to inevitable change due to my tier level status in their Ambassador Program (YAY! for me). 

Platinum level brings with it a whole host of beneifits and rewards, one being "Complimentary room upgrade" and another useful one is guaranteed 4PM checkout, which will be so handy for us both as our flight back home to SYD leaves at 8PM from SGN. 

*Fingers crossed* ... ;) 

There is probably an abundance of other things I should be writing about that I can't quite remember at the moment.

There's enough here for you to all go on for a few weeks until my next post. I'm hoping I can articulate and capture the excitement of the build up of the wedding quite well, for all the people who are unfortunately unable to make the trip out here. 




Until next time...

A Day In The National Park...

When Erin suggested to me that we should join our friends, Hannah and Tristan for what the Australians call a "bush walk" I have to be honest, I didn't really see the appeal, nor was I overly enthused with the prospect of spending one of my two days off walking in the Royal National Park of New South Wales. 

It seemed a bit too Ivan Milat for my liking, and I wasn't quite ready for an encounter with some wild Australian arachnid. 

Alas, a little bit of persuasion by Erin and I relented. Details were ironed out, we were on Gatorade duty and we met Hannah and Tristan on the Saturday morning and off we went to the Royal National Park.

After a short-ish drive from the meet up point, we parked on a barren, dusty, remote Wolf Creek-esque road and meandered our way downhill to a place called Winifred Falls. Having walked for about 20 minutes and garnered some information from Tristan as to the flora and fauna en route, we arrived at what would later be our wonderfully scenic picnic spot.

In true, quintessential Australian style, we took off our shoes and waded up creek to be treated to some of the best scenery I have had the pleasure of experiencing since arriving in Sydney in May. 

We walked up creek for a good 30-50 minutes before deciding to head back down stream to Winifred Falls. I was treated to numerous appearances from lizards/geckos/kimono dragons. Call them what you will. It's nice when you're out and about to see the wildlife of Australia. I get the impression it's all what everyone here has seen before to me, but to see a lizard in its natural habitat really triggers the David Attenborough in me. 

Enough of the narrative. To coin a cliche, a picture paints a thousand words and here's a few thousand for you all. 

For those interested in the camera specifications used to take these photos, all were taken on my iPhone 6. 

Winifred Falls

Winifred Falls 

 Winifred Falls from above

 A lizard. 

 Up the creek from Winifred Falls. 

 Fast flowing Spring Water, which tasted heaps better than the bottled stuff. 

 Just look at that. Absolutely amazing. 

 A bigger, but shy lizard. 

 You don't get much better than this. 

 Uluru. lolz. 

 Erin, Hannah and our tour guide, Tristan, all working our way upstream. 

 I keep having to pinch myself that this is all so close.  

 The newly named Mrs Clark, with a Pom. 

 The Pom, he ponders. 

 Tristan, Hannah and I all smiles after navigating a treacherous crossing. 

 The Pom, he ponders some more. (NB I do have legs, honestly!)

 Posing at our northern most point. After these photos, we headed back to Winifred Falls. 

 This was where I tasted the water. It was ice cold and heaps refreshing, especially on a hot day. 

 We couldn't all go for a bush walk and not utilise the iPhone 6's new "time-lapse" feature. 

So, after we headed back downstream and found a suitably large sized rock over hanging the water of Winifred Falls (we were on the rock taking the photo of Tristan in the picture below) we decimated our picnic. All the walking through the bush had meant we all had worked up an appetite. Hannah and Tristan even thought to bring a bottle of Red Wine, so that was lovely to be in such picturesque surroundings, having something so simple as a picnic, but equally being a million miles from the hustle and bustle of the CBD, which was only 45 minutes away. 

Tristan pre dive into Winifred Falls. 

Picnic devoured, it was time to pack up and head back to the car. On the walk uphill back to our Wolf Creek-esque road where, hopefully, our car would still be parked, Tristan suggested we go to a place called Wattamolla which was only 15 minutes away, and more importantly, we go to the "jump rock". 

Wattamolla is derived from the Aboriginal term meaning "place near running water". 

When we got to the place near running water, Wattamolla, it was busy with people with the same idea as ourselves. People with gazebos up and barbecues cooking. Beer was being drunk and it was just a lovely atmosphere to be a part of. People in the sun, with the people they love, having the time of their lives. It was exactly the same as the four of us were doing. 

 View from Wattamolla Park, looking over to Wattamolla Beach.

Both Tristan and I contemplating our fate, atop of the Wattamolla "jump rock"

 The view from the top of the rock, over towards Wattamolla Beach, and the Tasman Sea beyond. 

Now, before you watch the unedited video of myself and Tristan mindlessly jumping from a rock around 30ft-40ft in the air, you need to know that I have an unhealthy fear of deep water. If I am unable to put my feet down on the bottom of whatever it is I am swimming (or in this case - jumping into) then I generally shy away. 

It took a great deal of cohesion, and sun-fuelled idiocy to make the jump. 

I am so glad I did though. I embraced the Australian pastime of jumping off rocks into water and it certainly won't be my last. 

(NB: After various attempts it won't let me upload the unedited version of our jump rock video. I'll whack it up on Facebook so that you can see it.) 

A matter of minutes after making the jump and with a little help from Tristan I was back on top and the four of us headed back to the car. In a matter of moments open to the beating Spring Australian sun and I was dry. I was impressed. We headed back to Sutho(erland) and celebrated with some coffee and chocolate after I asked Tristan to be a groomsman of mine. It was such an easy decision for me as he, and Hannah, have been unparalleled in their welcoming of me, both at Christmas and since May. 

So that was my Saturday just gone, and I think it is safe to say that it will take some beating. 

Sunday came and Erin and I ventured into the City to enjoy one of our Christmas presents that her parents bought for us - a Tall Ship Cruise on Sydney Harbour. 

For any of the people in the UK who are coming out for the Wedding in March - this is THE way to see Sydney. It is only when you are on a boat in the Harbour that you get a sense of the size of the place. Again we utilised the camera on our iPhone 6's and took some rather good photos aboard the Søren Larsen. 

 Probably the most famous bridge of them all. 

 Cruise liner docked in Circular Quay. Hotels such as the Shangri-La and Intercontinental can also be seen. 

 Sydney Opera House. Cascade Premium Light. Pom

 The Sydney Opera House, against a majestic blue sky backdrop. 

 The CBD.

Baranagaroo, a new build suburb on the cusp of The Rocks area of Sydney. 

 Erin, her drink and our world. 

 Shark Island Light. An active lighthouse still, that is only accessible by boat. 

So, there you have it. Probably one of the best weekends Erin and I have spent together. 

I'm so glad we thought about taking photos as it has been brilliant for me looking back at all the photos. 

 Peace. Love. Peroni. 

12 days...

You might be forgiven for thinking that the title of this blog was an ode to a sequel of Craig David's 2000 hit "7 Days" but it isn't. Although that could be future blog post material - who knows? 

When you put your mind to it, a lot can be achieved in such a short space of time. Erin and I are testament to that over the past 12 days since my last blog post. 

Without wanting to sound overly repetitious and talking about the same content week-on-week, or 12 days-on-12 days, all of our spare time is being eaten up by wedding stuff. 

Until you are in the midst of it all yourself, you don't really get a sense of perspective of just what actually goes into the planning of one. Erin and I have been quite lucky in the respect that once one big piece of the metaphorical jigsaw was in place, we'll call this piece the "reception venue", we were blessed that everything else has followed suit quite easily. 

A lot of this though has been largely down to the fact that Erin is the most organised person you could ever wish to meet, and I am majorly OCD with things like planning. I need to know if it has been done, and if it hasn't, when it will. We're probably not a healthy mix for when it comes to a holiday, or say a round-the-world flight, but on the whole we work extremely well together. 

Erin had the early part of this week off work to enable her to study for her Law exam on Wednesday. Stress levels at this time of the year are normally a lot higher than normal and it is to be expected. Couple that with what was later diagnosed as a viral infection and the early part of the week was quite a stressful one for Erin. Wednesday has been and gone now though, nothing can be altered. The past is in the past. Que sera, sera.

Wednesday for me though was a completely different story. I decided I would book a days flex from work and accompany Erin to her exam, but I chose to spend the time Erin was quoting Australian Constitutional Law more effectively and went on a walk to take some photographs, for this very purpose - my blog. 

We parked at Wentworth Park, a much more grandeur version of Belle Vue for all the Manchester readers. Sunshine makes everything look better I have realised. 

I ended up strolling down to the Sydney Fish Markets and started snapping away. 

The other bridge in Sydney, the ANZAC Bridge. The name paying tribute to the 

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who served in WWI. 

Whilst I was happy in my little ANZAC Bridge little world, 

an Australian White Ibis became a little too friendly, and close for my liking. 

The Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis moluccus) looks so prehistoric to me. 

That beak is the stuff of absolute nightmares! 

Oh, okay. You're a brave Brucie, encroaching on my personal space now. 

YOU TAKING THE PISS? BACK THE F*CK AWAY FROM ME NOW!!!

Following on from staring death in the eyes, I also encountered another species of bird, this time from a much more respectable distance. This bird was content in the water, scooping up fish in its rather prominent throat pouch. 

Two Pelicans in the water near ANZAC Bridge. 

There's something Finding Nemo-esque about Pelicans in water, near Bridges in Sydney. 

After photographing copious birds for blog post content, we left the vicinity and headed over to Alexandria to look at suits for our wedding. I had seen a Prosecutor at work with this Suit on and it was the EXACT shade of blue that I had been looking for. Suffice to say when Erin saw it, it was made abundantly clear that it wasn't the right shade of blue for a wedding, and on reflection she was right. 

It was a light shade of blue and for a wedding I've come to realise a darker blue is much more formal. 

Once our time had expired in Alexandria we headed to Erin's friends place for dinner, Hannah and Tristan, who are getting married this coming Saturday. We were treated to home made burgers and were able to wash it down with some Pepperjack Handcrafted Ale. #delicious

Thursday and Friday passed by in somewhat of a blur as I was working both days and experienced some cases in Court which were a little hard going. I won't go into the intricacies of them for fear of breaching client confidentiality but it was, yet again, another eye opener and a massive learning curve for me. 

Erin succumbed to a viral infection too so her working week didn't even materialise. A journey to work on Thursday morning on the train was swiftly followed by a journey home from work on the train via the Doctors surgery for a course of antibiotics. 

Alas the weekend. Time to relax. Or not as the case may be. 

Friday night we finally decided to book our flights for our Honeymoon. We opted to pay more and fly with Vietnam Airlines, than pay less and fly with Malaysia Airlines and run the risk of not arriving at our destination of Nha Trang. 

Our flight plan is more direct with Vietnam Airlines too, flying SYD - SGN - CXR. 

Malaysia Airlines was SYD - KUL - SGN - CXR with an overnight in SGN because you would have missed the connection to CXR. The significant price difference of $400 each wasn't enough to entice us, or compromise our safety/lives. 

On our return flight we have staggered the flight back to Sydney (SYD) from Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) by two days, which gives us a bit of time to spend in SGN. 

So we will land in Ho Chi Minh City on 09/04 after a 55 minute flight from Nha Trang (CXR) and then we will leave Ho Chi Minh for Sydney on the 11th of April. 

We haven't booked a Hotel yet but we think we are set on two nights in the Intercontinental Asiana Saigon Hotel.   

Saturday was a long day, but my goodness was it productive. The early part of Saturday was spent in the beautiful Trinity Chapel at Trinity Grammar School for a rehearsal of Hannah and Tristan's wedding, which is happening this coming Saturday.

The place is gorgeous. It felt like I was in a Church in England. The high ceilings, the exposed terracotta coloured brickwork and the coldness of an English Church. The pictures below don't do it justice.

The Groom awaits his Bride. 

And here she comes, accompanied by her Dad! 

Somehow I don't think Hannah will be this relaxed next week... ;)

And here is my bride-to-be. It won't be long until it is the both of us rehearsing our big day! 

Group shot!

After the minutest of details were ironed out, we said our goodbyes and headed off to the City to see if we could find a wedding suit. The excitement was palpable. 

ANZAC Bridge, we meet again. 

Once we parked in the City both Erin and I decided that before we delved into the world of wedding suit shopping we would relax and have a bite to eat, so we headed down to the food court of David Jones (think Selfridges) and plonked ourselves at the Sushi Bar and went weird.

Spur of the moment Sushi. It's the best kind of Sushi. 

Shopping in David Jones was a first for me, I had never before had the pleasure of the place. Floors and floors of everything and anything. It really is like Selfridges, and maybe John Lewis all in one. 
We found our way into the Mens Formal section and immediately found ourselves attracted to a navy blue suit. We asked questions of the knowledgeable sales assistant who was a little on the older side, which for me is a novelty. I am so used to young females, wearing an abundance of makeup and terribly drawn on eyebrows that to come by a placid older female who is there to help and not in anyway to garnish a sale from you is a rather strange concept for me. 
She wasn't pushy, she just helped me with the styling, with the pinning of the jacket and told us both what would look best and what wouldn't. I loved the jacket, it felt so elegant on and felt just right. It wasn't too heavy and it wasn't too light either. I decided I wouldn't just jump two footed and buy the first one we saw and liked. So we wandered around the floor and looked at some others. We saw some okay ones that were way out of our price budget and some ghastly ones that were well within, typical! :D
After David Jones we called in to TM Lewin. Quintessentially British Suit Makers, so they say. Shit I say. Total shit. We didn't stay long. 

After a pit stop at "Nutorious" for some combined sweet and salted popcorn (it works, believe me!) we ventured away from the City and via Alexandria on the way home to the Ron Bennett Outlet. 
I have already purchased a suit from Ron Bennett before, for an interview in early June and they fit me excellently.
It seemed logical to go there and we weren't disappointed. Again the customer service experience was one I wasn't used to. The (again) elderly assistant, this time a charismatic Italian man, a little on the rotund side with grey balding hair left us to our own devices. He only came over when we asked for his help and he knew what size I was without even asking me. Now that's professionalism! 

I tried on one suit in particular, of the "Super Slim Fit" persuasion and you know when you just know? Yea, that! 
I have no doubt when the Italian dude said "You should be a Ron Bennett model" he was humouring me, but he did have a point. There are some suits sometimes that you try on and think, "Yep, this looks good" and then there are other ones when you try them on, you think to yourself, "I just need to have this suit". This one fell into the latter category. 

We even managed to secure four other suits for the Best Man and Groomsmen too. How's that for a productive afternoon in Alexandria? 

Happiness. It's infectious. 

After the success of procuring my wedding suit Erin and I headed home. Not before we were then back out again with some friends, Katrina and Stuart for a Curry and then to watch the Arsenal vs Manchester City game. It was so good to meet up with them both again as Erin and I had met with them previously a few times when they were in London and Erin was in Manchester.  

We ate a place called "A Taste of India" in Marrickville, not India. The food I was impressed with, the service not so much. We were asked if we were finished with our Naan bread when it was clear we were still eating them and we also received a starter we didn't order which they tried to leave for us in the hope we'd eat it, and then pay for. Our mains were also extremely late in arriving. We did find out that the waitress was new, but that doesn't excuse the fact for the long wait for our mains. I probably would recommend the place as the food was nice, I'd like to think their lack of customer service was just a one off. 

Today has been a day of rest and a day to enjoy this beautiful Spring weather. It has been so nice today in fact (24C) that I have worn shorts for the first time since arriving at the end of May. 

I just hope the weather is here to stay...