one london sunday

a day filled with:


(in no particular order)
tommy . green tea . benson the dog . brick lane . an hour or so spent in a bookstore researching my cross-country american road-trip . pumpkin ravioli . the west end . the photographer's gallery . a public announcement at the tube station: "due to a person under the train, there will be no north-bound service on the piccadilly line" . jordan . lucas . guiness beer . paul . jordan's mum . the spitalfield markets . starbucks venti soy chai latte, extra hot, no water . a local pub called "the gun", and the two men sitting across the table from each other -- asleep . a football match playing on the big screen that i didn't watch . a sunday roast good enough to make nigella lawson feel threatened . lady jayne . two fox furs, hanging on the bed head . sam . polly waffles . "useless pieces of shit" that are actually treasures . a dinner plate with a bird on it . cranberry juice . shopping on a day where everything was closed to celebrate jesus rising once more . home-made rice pudding . a clock in the shape of Iceland . catching the last train of the night back to your hotel . subzero temperatures, and fear that i may actually lose a finger to frostbite . hypochondria . an obligatory fridge magnet for the collection . snowflakes falling and making me look like i have dandruff!


here are the photos:




stay tuned, next week: NEW YORK FREAKIN' CITY!!!!!!!!


let the good times roll!!

london still

back to good ol' London town!

after having already seen all the major tourism sights of London last time i was here with my mate Natalie, I was looking forward to a relaxed, laid-back trip to London to visit my hometown-mate Tommy -- without feeling like i had to race around this city trying to see all that it had to offer

this time to London offered a much more interesting view of London: where previously i had seen most of it from the top floor of a double-decker open-air tour bus, the London that Tommy showed me was a lot more appealing and I understand much more about why London has such a magnetic pull of twenty-somethings from all over the world.

on my last visit, London had semed so over-whelmingly large, massive even, a big sprawling city that made me feel that if i ever lived there, i'd struggle to find my own place. but down on ground level, walking through the streets around Covent Garden and through SoHo, i discovered that even in a city with an incredible population like this, there is still such thing as a familiar face, and i realised that cold anonymity isn't always the way it goes over here


it was so good to hang out with Tommy again, it'd been about a year since we'd seen each other, and so we did what old friends do best, sat in a cafe and talked shit and caught up, walked around and saw his London and met some of his friends -- and even though i'd promised myself no shopping, well of course some money had to be spent somewhere, i couldn't just leave it sitting in my wallet now, could i?!


here are the photos:



stay tuned, next up: LONDON, AGAIN!!! (i think?!)


let the good times roll!!

goodnight glasgow

well, this is like Mitch's "Get in Touch With Your Ancestry" Month: first a trip to China, followed by a trip to Scotland where mum's mum was born

admittedly Glasgow was cold and wet, but the place was a lot of fun! the people are great, and there was plenty for me to see in the city

when i told some people i was thinking about catching the train down to Edinburgh to see the castle , they looked at me like i was the craziest human to walk this planet since Britney Spears -- and so that idea had to be put on hold til i'm next in Glasgow on a day when the weather isn't so miserable

there weren't NEARLY enough people walking around in kilts for my likings, i was semi-hoping that a kilt was something not only worn on special occasions, but also something that one might throw on before ducking down to the shops to pick up a litre of milk; or even something they may have worn to do the gardening in -- but alas, it seems like i'll have to wait for a festival in summer or a wedding or a big occasion before i see anyone getting 'round in a kilt

...and of course i did something that EVERYONE must do when in scotland: go for dinner in a chinese restaurant -- seriously, what were we thinking?! it was probably a good thing though, cos i'm not adventurous enough to try eating haggis, and after having recently been in china, it was nice to eat chinese food without any risk of eating dog! i really oughtta give the chinese folk a break, they probably don't even eat dog -- but they MIGHT!


here are the photos:



stay tuned, next week: LONDON!!!


let the good times roll!!