London - Too much drinking makes Sonia go something something...

Monday 2 October 2006
I started a new role in the Group Direct Tax SOX team in Shell today. Still SOX work but auditing tax numbers (as the name of the team would suggest), and hopefully may include some travel to cool places like Brazil and Argentina (but everyone on the team wants to go there too so there's tough competition!). The good thing about being in the Shell Centre is the canteen and the free lunch (hopefully I don't put on weight)!

Wednesday 4 October 2006
After work I met Mariani, Linh and Sara for the Bally "History and Heritage" evening which was used to promote their new range. For us girls, it was a good excuse to sip bellinis and eat canapes (the foie gras and baby octopus canapes were delicious) and most importantly, claim our "goody bag" which contained a Bally leather card holder (so cool! love free stuff!). I left the girls at 8ish and then met up with my ex SwissRe KPMG work colleagues (Danny, James, Callum, Balaji and Arjun) at Aura in St James for more drinks and dinner. We stayed until close to midnight and then Callum, Balaji and I continued on for more drinks at Babble on Berkeley Square in Mayfair before I caught a taxi home.

Thursday 5 October 2006
Dinner with my ex work colleagues from STASCO this evening at a Korean Restaurant called Jindalle to celebrate my new job and to say goodbye to our Korean intern, Suyoung. We let Suyoung order for us, which was good as we got to try more authentic korean dishes, and I also got to try the korean version of the japanese plum wine, which was not as sweet, but still very nice.

Friday 6 October 2006
The Group Direct Tax SOX team had a workshop this afternoon so all the team that were out of London flew back in and so the office was buzzing. After the workshop the team headed to Belgos in Covent Garden for belgium beer and dinner. During dinner, one of the girls introduced me to Kir Royale; very dangerous! For a work function, it was lots of fun and great to talk to all the team informally.

After dinner, I met up with Sean, Joe, Kah Leng and Shawn Koh at Abacus before we headed to the Wax Bar for clubbing.

Saturday 7 October 2006
Woke up this morning and given my last few days of over indulgence, I headed to the gym. Had lunch at home and then Tammy and Linus came back from house hunting with a bottle of Frangelico...

That evening, Tammy, Linus, Yang and I headed to Bayswater to meet Toby Grayson (ex work colleague from PwC Perth who is now working in Milan but was in London on a business trip), Jane and Ed for drinks at Phoenix Bar before dinner at Gold Mine (the new Four Seasons - as the chef left Four Seasons and opened this restaurant). Unfortunately, by the time we had dinner, there was no duck left...so sad. One final drink at a local pub in Bayswater before we caught the tube back home.

Sunday 8 October 2006
We had dim sum with Tammy, Linus and Helen at Royal China on West Ferry Circus; very relaxing given the sun was out (although it was cold) and the view of the Thames. Tammy and Linus left later in the afternoon for Jane's place as Tammy is moving in with Jane until Linus and her find a place in London.

That evening, we had Allison, Aaron and Felix over for dinner so that Alli and Aaron could show us the wedding photo proofs. As it was a mini celebration, we popped open a bottle of Mumm Demi Sec Champagne, which went down quite well!

After 5 continuous nights of drinking I so need to detox this coming week!