So you’d think that having to take the tube twice a day I’d do all I can to avoid it when it’s not necessary to use…
Well no, not when you get the chance to dine in a carriage. Our friends invited us months ago and we eagerly accepted the invite. There were no tables of four left so we’d be dining at a communal table but little did we know the that this would be what made the evening!
We were going to meet near Liverpool Street station, but with our friends jobs keeping get them at work, Das and I had a drink with Das’s boss at Blackfriars and then caught the overground to St James’ Street, E17. We first stopped at a pub called 56 St James’ where we were warmly welcomed and also met someone who used to work at an old workplace and recognised our faces! What a small world it is. Anyway once we were all together we walked the short distance to the Pump House Museum, where our carriage awaited us. We had a glass of bubbles on entry and then sat down to enjoy a fabulous evening. Our table of 8 was made up of another couple and 2 friends – we all got on really well and thoroughly enjoyed both the company and food. They catered for Das and I perfectly with a delicious menu, better than a lot of restaurants take on vegan cuisine. We left in high spirits and stopped at the pub again for ‘one (well two) for the road’ another very warm welcome.
I was walking to the tube this morning and a very small boy was being led along by his mum and he was holding a half eaten apple. His mum said ‘your fingers will get sticky’ and he said, as kids do ‘what’s sticky’. The mum started ‘well it’s, ummm, when you, hmm, let me think, well it’s like when you eat a sweetie…’ and that’s the last I heard. But it got me thinking, how do you describe what sticky means to a young child!
Recently we went to Jordan, a fantastic country that I hope to do a blog about when I can. Weirdly though, the thing I was most worried about was what on earth to wear. I couldn’t find any definitive answer as everthing I read contradicted each other. Our Rough Guide said to dress very conservatively, no shorts (even the men), fully covered. Other people said it’s very liberal and not nearly as strict as some Middle Eastern countries.
So what to do? Well rather luckily, the fashion at the moment seems to be cotton shirts and flowy cotton pants – perfect for hot weather and covering up. And even better, Primark had some nice stuff in, and I know it isn’t my fave place to shop but given I wasn’t sure if I’d wear the clothing after the holiday it made sense to limit what I spent. So I bought a pair of culottes (which I LOVE and will be well used during summer), 3 pairs of cotton trousers with elasticated waist so very comfy and a couple of cotton shirts. I also took with me some plain t-shirts and a pair of long shorts, another pair of long cotton pants I’d bought a while back, a cardi for cooler evenings and a light feather filled jacket for the night in the desert. I had worn jeans (well jeggings) on the plane and these were useful too (although I’m sure in the middle of summer they would be too hot). I felt really comfortable with what I wore – and even though I could have got away with wearing shorts more often (I had mine for our day in Aqaba), it was nice to not get so many stares (I think even if I was covered in head to toe people are still intrigued by foreigners so would look no matter what).
Shoe wise I took a pair of sandals, a pair of light and comfortable walking shoes and a pair of sturdy shoes for Petra. I was pleased to have good walking shoes as we had a day in Petra that started at 6am and ended at 9.30pm and we were on our feet for much of that. However if you plan on sticking to trails then don’t buy anything special – you just need reasonable grip and comfort is essential.
Would I change anything? All I would have added is a nice top for the evening – people do get dressed up when going out to eat.
I took a picture each day of what I wore in the hope I can help someone out there to decide what to take if they plan on a trip to Jordan (and if you’ve never been GO GO GO, it is an amazing place)
Long cotton pants – the black, grey and olive green all from Primark and at £8/pair they were a bargain
Long sleeve cotton shirts also helped keep the sun off
A few short sleeve tops – I used all of these
All rolled up and in categories so things were easy to find – we were in 5 different places in 10 days
Last week we had some funny old weather which meant a rather crazy sunset! On one side of the house a beautiful sunset. On the other dark clouds that picked up the colour of the sunset. Very moody!
This weekend just gone, Das’s parents arrived in the UK, staying with us for one week. We went out to Heathrow to pick them up. I love arrivals so much more than departures. It’s a happy place, the tears people shed are of joy for seeing friends and family, not sadness because loved ones are leaving. So I really liked that as people came through a young boy was playing, very beautifully I must add, a cello.
On Sunday we woke to a lovely sunny day so decided to make the most of it by taking a trip down to southbank. We had a lovely time, enjoying street food at Kerb, the market place filled with various choices, mainly Indian due to an Indian festival being on. We had a delish mung dhal dosa with some bhal puri and das also tracked down a guy who had been on TV, he sold amazing snacks. Chan wanted to see the Globe, so we walked in that direction – encountering a South American festival, the lovely Gabriels Wharf and lots of street theatre. A fun day.
It’s a bank holiday weekend and so far it has been pretty blimmin good!
Das had Friday off so headed to Canary Wharf to meet me for lunch. We tried Chai Ki, a cool Indian fusion restaurant in the new Cross Rail building. Service was fabulous, and although I’ve had better food elsewhere, I’d go back.
Chai Ki – started to eat before taking the pic!
Saturday morning was leisurely and we headed in to Tottenham Court Road to try a vegan restaurant called Vantra Vitao. It had a great rustic vibe with some very tasty meals, buffet style. The also had a great range of fresh drinks – I had one with kombucha which is a fermented, lightly effervescent tea. For dessert I had an amazing cheesecake – non-dairy of course.
We then went on to a bar for a couple of drinks before heading to The British Museum to see a new exhibition called Sicily Culture and Conquest, getting it free through my workplace being a corporate partner. I have been to Palermo and really loved it so it was cool to see some references to the city. However I would have been disappointed to have paid for the exhibition as I felt it was quite superficial without much depth or direction. And once again I feel they let too many people let in during each time slot. Anyway after only 40mins we were through and ready for our next stop – only our next stop didn’t open until 5pm so we had to fill in some time – a wander through soho led us to The Blue Posts, a pretty great old style pub, doing a good trade. Was nice to just sit there and soak up the atmosphere.
At 5pm we headed off to a cool place called Opium – somewhere Das had found out about. It was a cocktail bar that also did dim sum. We climbed a number of flights of stairs in to a very cool bar and sat at the bar enjoying the company of a great barman called Tertius (he said his parents were hippies!) and having a couple of rocket fuel cocktails!! Another barman recommended checking out the upstairs bar which we did – it too was brilliant. Cocktails aren’t cheap but for somewhere special I can highly recommend.
Our penultimate event for the day was to get some food and this was found at a canteen style place called Little Penang where we enjoyed a veggie set menu – all very tasty for £13 each.
Finally at 8pm we rushed off to Vue cinema – the last cinema in London to be still showing Dead Pool – what a funny movie! We both really enjoyed it, some great lines in it.
So we are now in to Sunday. Das is out for some beers with friends and I’m enjoying some relaxation time. We were up early today as the sun was out and I wanted to try a few settings on my camera to be prepared from our upcoming trip to Jordan. We later took the car for a spin – Hoo Hings our great Asian supermarket, Marks and Sparks and TK Maxx for some last minute travel items. I wonder what tomorrow will bring!
Check out the Muhammad Ali exhibition at the O2. We went last weekend and found it was thoroughly enjoyable. We were there for 2 hours but could easily have spent another 30mins looking around (our mate was hungover…) So much to read and look at. It was a little on the expensive side (£20) but the audio guide was included and I think it was money well spent given the amount of time we were there. The only thing I felt is you didn’t get to know the man, although it sounds like he was pretty complex – so it mainly focused on all the factual events. However that is only my opinion, I would still totally recommend it.
Afterwards Das and I went on to Borough Market to enjoy a lovely pot of noodles at Wokit and then on to fab pub called The Rake that does all sorts of craft beers. We had a fun afternoon, had friends turn up a little later and our 7pm deadline ended up being 10pm. Why cut a good evening short 🙂
Friday at last! It had been a long, busy week at work so Friday came as a welcome relief. Friday eve started at Wahaca for a scrummy dinner with friends. Such an easy place to like with tasty food, friendly service and delicious cocktails. After the meal it was time to get to the O2 for Muse. Not a band I liked or disliked, but when friends said they had tickets Das was dead keen having seen them in concert before. I’d been conscientiously listening to them on Spotify so knew their latest album, no point going along if I didn’t at least know a couple of songs. Turns out I knew more than I thought. They played old stuff, new stuff, stuff that wasn’t theirs… It was a very slick performance, you could tell they’ve been doing it together for a long time. Very pleased to have gone and highly recommend seeing them live.
Saturday was an early start as we had a big day ahead. Breakfast first, meeting friends at a pub called The Hydrant, right opposite the Monument. Food was great, shame I can’t say that for the service which one second was jovial the next you were getting sighed at or snapped at. And I hate places where staff studiously ignore you when you try wave them down, I mean come on, someone standing up, gesticulating wildly – what else could it mean other than could I please get your attention?
The Hydrant
Anyway that wasn’t going to ruin a perfectly good day as our next stop was Old Billingsgate for another Laithwaites wine tasting. And once again we had lots of fun! We’d paid a little extra to try the Fine Wines. And although some were lovely, I’m not too sure I really have the palate to tell the difference between a £7 bottle and a £70 one. I must say though that the Moet Dom Perignon was DIVINE! Did you know that Moet is pronounced with the t at the end as it’s actually a German word? You learn something every day!
Where to start?
After our wine tasting we headed towards Borough as we had a table booked for dinner. Being a little early we first stopped in at a nice pub for a couple then to Arabica Kitchen and Bar, which I’ve blogged about before and I can say once again it was gorgeous! The food was fabulous and they are always so accommodating. We’d overstayed our welcome so tumbled out into the street with our bellies full. We carried on for another couple of hours, one drink at The Sheaf and then on to the Wheatsheaf both within a couple minutes walk of each other. What a great day it had been!
Waking at 7am Sunday morning I felt horrible. Mixing wine, beer and cocktails is never a good thing. However another 2 hours sleep and a shower and I was feeling fine. I’d bought some new walking shoes ready for our forthcoming trip to Jordan do wanted to test them out with a longer walk than just to work, so we headed off in bright sunshine (but cold wind!) to Balham. Everyone was out and about so our jaunt through Tooting Bec Common was dodging kids on bikes and scooters, joggers, parents who have no idea about the world around them and just suddenly stop in the middle of the path because their kid wants something. However, given I don’t own the common, I can’t really complain and I still enjoyed the atmosphere of everyone enjoying a sunny weekend. Balham was packed, tables spilled out on the pavements, the cheerful clink of cutlery could be heard everywhere and smiles were on everyone’s faces. We found a great little craft beer shop called We Brought Beer and we sat in the sun enjoying a FourPure white ale, which was very tasty. What a fab weekend it was!
I’ve been a little silent lately, but with a good excuse, a two week trip home to New Zealand. As usual, it wasn’t long enough and even though I only arrived back in London 2 days ago, my holiday feels a distant memory.
Anyway, to get over the post holiday blues, Das and I got ourselves out and about yesterday, venturing the short distance to Brixton. Wow things there just keep on changing, it is getting more and more gentrified by the minute. Our aim though was a specific pub which was hosting Brixton’s first vegan fair. Das was worried about being too early and being the only ones there. However there was no reason to worry about that, it was packed, over packed actually – you could hardly move around the stalls. So sadly we didn’t stay long, nor did we buy anything. However lucky for us, Ms Cupcake, a vegan cupcake joint was just down the road, so we popped in there for our fill of vegan treats! It’s nice to see people are genuinely starting to look at alternatives to meat, seafood and dairy.
The busy vegan fairA cool place for brunchMarket traders alongside trendy wine bars and restaurants, but for how long?Yum, vegan cupcakes, delish!
Das just got back from New York and Washington and whilst in NYC he bought me this bright and cheerful reusable bag. I always have a fabric bag on me, never know when it will be needed. And it’s a lovely bright day to go with the lovely bright colours 🙂 Hopefully we see the sun over the weekend too.
tube contemplations 