Working in the Square Mile

That's what they refer to the City of London.

My office is in Holborn, across the Waterloo Bridge from where I live.

View from nearby where I live

I have settled down pretty well in the last few days and observed many new and different things from a conurbation into a metropolitan city.

The daily walk across the Bridge makes me think of two things which I'm still in denial - that I've joined the rat race and two, the sole of my leather shoes will wear off quicker now!

Rat race and Waterloo Bridge

The office is overlooking a musical theatre near Covent Garden. Next to the building is a sports centre which I'll join for obvious reasons - corporate rates, facilities and most importantly, location!

View from the office. Do you see streets or a fan?

If I were blindfolded for 15 days and cut off completely from the sense of time and sunlight, I can now easily guess which part of the day it would be in London. In the morning, the streets would smell coffee and fresh bakeries; evenings there will be Londonpaper or Lite newspapers on the walkways.

I am still trying new routes to work. There will be some trial and errors from time to time. I am thinking of drawing to a close if I couldn't bring down any further the 15-minute journey time from Waterloo. It took me 35 minutes on the first day! It could also be because I've improved my strides and pace!

Cycling into central London can be another way to kill myself easily. I am wary of the recent stabbing cases here. That's quite a stretch to my risk appetite already. I better not cut corners into getting more risk of being ran over by a double decker.

I have been to the Olympics site in Stratford, on the first day of work. I couldn't usually follow what's going on in a meeting as a new joiner, but this time, I could. That's good omen. Well, it's still too early to tell if I like my work. But so far so good.