Hello again my fellow dedicated Willows.

I write today, with a number of issues hanging over me. Some good, some bad.

First things first. To the person who contrived a player of the month, poor form. It was patently wrong on so many fronts. I have the odd grey sneaking through, however to suggest that I was born in 1984, and have grey hair, is an absolute insult.

That all aside, (only worry about the things you can control), I am typing this from Belfast, at a hostel called 'The Linen House'.

Belfast is so often the part of the UK that people skip, in favour of something more glamorous, say a place like Rome. Well, I wish to put people's travel methods to one side and say, visit Belfast for a day.

I am fortunate enough to have gone through both Catholic and Protestant strongholds, where the murals on the wall are incredible. Full walls of houses dedicated to dead members of voluntary forces, who for many years, fought battles with petrol bombs, sniper weapons and sheer longevity. If you lurk on my facebook, my page will shortly show a photo of the famous mural of a sniper, who is painted on to a wall in Shankill Estate, whos gun follows you as you walk past it. It is similar to the eyes of mona lisa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Belfast_mural_6.jpg is the shortcut to see it, however, my photography gives the critical second angle.

I was also fortunate enough to see a Ulster Defence Association march through the city today. I am told that back in the days of full scale sectarian violence, their number amassed 21,000. Today I estimate, 1,000 marched.

Other than the murals, the city is small, but of intrigue. The former prosperity of the place is evident, particularly the word former. There is derelect a plenty, but hope in so far that there are city regerenation projects on the go.

All in all, an interesting place, where my cultural observations are listed hereon:

Fake tan is the most popular accessory for a girl to have. The sun is yet to come up and it is 6:30 pm at night, however the girls are a shade of caramel; Another puzzling thing is that all women walk arm in arm down the streets; The Northern Irish are in short Irish, differentiated by the word 'northern'. They follow Ireland in the Rugby and in the soccer. All their tourist shops contain nick nacks of Ireland, and nothing which suggests division; The Murals is by far and away the best reality experience. Loitering through council estates, looking the complete tourist, is not the thing you do everyday, however, it must be done. The city of Belfast has the feel of a big big Geelong, however the people are exceptionally friendly, and don't have that I hate Melbourne people, so the parallels end there thank god!; and For me, it ranks as the 6th coldest city in the world.

In short, that is about it. I attended a Melbourne Storm game last Sunday at the twickenham stoop, a curious rugby ground behind the real Twickenham, to see the Storm play Harlequins RL. Easy win to Melbourne, but a real shocker in terms of the crowd and behaviour. Australian girl kicked out for being feral, I settled on the conclusion she was from Queensland.

My time is running out over in London, however I endeavour to keep the cultural learnings. Having seen the photos of the gutted Ferndale Park, I believe there is room for a cultural cullinary learning centre there. It would be a school for learning how to make Pizza, and be in operation Tues, Thurs and Saturday night.

Probably my most boring Cultural Learnings, however, a big thumbs up for the murals in Northern Ireland.