More Easter Birthday Weekend

I'm moving quickly here because I know that once I start work I will be somewhat wiped out at the end of each day until I establish a routine and break myself back in to the work process. Certainly I can say that Glo, who recently started a new job, knows what I mean. 

Anyway, if you haven't seen my last post, then make like a tomato and ketchup!

A pic from Claire's camera of dessert at Rosa Mexicano on Friday.  She had three flavors of sorbet:  mango, coffee-Kahlua, and raspberry-rose. I had a tres leches (3 milk) cake topped with soft peaked meringue on a base of lime glaze and garnished with sweet mango salsa.

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On Saturday, Claire went to meet an old college friend for lunch and an afternoon outing.  I rested at home,which for me, an introvert and an only child, is always welcome.

After Jeff had his car serviced, gone shopping and had brunch with his mom, and seen her off to Baltimore, he came to me bearing gifts.  I wanted nothing from anyone this year, all the other blessings I've received are enough for me - but I have to say they were exquisite things, handmade items from those Fairtrade cooperatives.

A Nepalese satin jewelry box



A Peruvian bamboo and turquoise necklace

We met Claire downtown and scouted out the Dupont Circle area for dinner, finally settling on Thaiphoon which satisfied the list for an exciting menu, an array of spicy foods, and a decent atmosphere.



It was still barely dark when we left but we were sure the restaurant looks great at night.  We joined the crowds making their way down to the Waterfront to see the fireworks put on the mark the end of the Cherry Blossom Festival.  Everyone oohed and aahed, and then the crowds all headed out again.

I'm sure J wouldn't mind me sharing this picture he took with his phonecam
That's me with a firework coming out of my head, in case you were wondering

And then, as we were really not done with the evening, we headed back up to Dupont for the famed 18th Street Lounge that we'd visited once before, after the Indonesian Embassy evening.  Claire really enjoyed it, specially since unmarked venues are often the best.  It really is just a door to the townhouse and you climb up the stairs into 3 floors of atmosphere.  First there is the ultra-hip floor filled with trawling single types.  But our floor of choice is the live jazz level (or as someone calls it, the Jeff and Livvy room) which is more relaxed and very sophisticated.  We arrived fairly early before the band set up, so were able to snag a comfy red couch, though not the nice Queen Anne we had a few weeks ago.  Just like last time, a couple standing on the open floor suddenly broke out into some fairly good swing dance.

I enjoyed the Nat King Cole numbers sung in sultry style by the band's chanteuse.

The End

P.S. Wish me luck tomorrow!

Marathon Birthday

Of course it's a great day for the London Marathon: grey, rainy, some hail, some sun, 8C (46F) with a possible high of 12C (53F). Good temps for running.

Those poor Maasai warriors have probably never felt anything like it though. They have never been outside their village in Tanzania before, but this year they opened the marathon and are running to raise money so that their village can obtain fresh drinking water. They will be in traditional clothing, carrying their shields and spears, wearing sandals made of rubber tires, and chanting - just as they do at home - and hope to complete the marathon in 4 hours.

They can run for days at a time hunting food and water and herding cattle, so this little marathon will be a walk in the park.


Near London Bridge



On the Tube

Because London is a completely alien experience, they were given a four-page cultural briefing that included info such as:

"Even though some may look like they have a frown on their face, they are very friendly people - many of them just work in offices, jobs they don't enjoy, and so they do not smile as much as they should."

"You cannot rely on the sun to tell the time accurately and will have to rely on clocks and watches. The sun will rise and set at different times." [Me. If they see the sun at all.]

"Whereas at home for you it is acceptable to spit, in England it is not but, if you have to, you must do so in a sink or in some trees when no one is looking." [Me. Then they'll be the only people not spitting on the street.]

"You will see many people who are wearing only small clothes and you will wonder why they are cold and may think they are being disrespectful....This is normal for England, especially when it is sunny or in the evening. However, it is illegal to show certain parts of the body and for this reason it is important that you wear underpants if you are wearing your blankets."

To read more, visit the article in the Daily Mail.

This just in:
Unsurprisingly, the first six men across the line were Kenyan with one American coming fifth. A Brit came in 5 minutes later.

The rest will be straggling in until well after sunset. Some people in costumes, raising money for various charities, may take a few more days!

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And now on to my birthday on Thursday.

I took the day off and my mother came along since she had the day off. This may be our last birthday together in a long time, and I wanted to spend the day in town appreciating London before I leave it.

1) Lunch with Lydia


Lydia is my oldest friend. We have known each other for over 27 years. We don't even remember meeting.



After lunch at Cumin Indian restaurant

2) Chores and banking

3) Wandering around Carnaby Street


One of three handbag flowerpots on a ledge outside a shop in funky Kingly Court, off Carnaby Street



The signed card that greeted me back at work thenext morning! It made my day.


As fine a sunset as you will get in London

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Addendum:
I've just received a final comment on my previous post.

Mark said: Some nice pics there. I think you secretly like living in London (despite the tales of travel delays)!! You'll miss it if you move away!?

No, Mark, I won't miss it enough to regret leaving and I didn't miss it before I came back.
And I can take nice pics anywhere, you'll see!

What I will miss are little things like perhaps some favourite foods and products. (I will make a list soon.) Also I might experience those split second sensory flashbacks, just as I do now with memories of Texas which come unbidden as I sit at my desk in the office. That's life.

Impressions on a day...

...In Belgravia

It's nice to drive through, walk through, pop in and out of...but working there felt uncomfortable. Like Conrad's "whited sepulchres" in The Heart of Darkness, London's land of embassies is not conducive to residents. And yet, people who are not affiliated with an embassy insist on living there. Today I worked for a solicitor in a big house off Belgrave Square where she lives with her husband, and both work from home. There were attendance notes dealing with the acquisition of a holiday villa in Barbados (they've just spent 3 months there!), with related fees for golf membership, grounds maintenance, seasonal rental, housekeeping, etc. I also typed out the villa inventory.

And just when I started wondering how long they had lived in the house, she asked me to type up a letter to the Grosvenor Estates (holders of the land on which Belgravia sits) about some dispute with the required colouring of the building and joinery. They bought it in 1997 in a state of disrepair, which apparently was the case with much of the non-diplomatic property in that amazing neighbourhood. Imagine, the people living there now are sitting on fortunes.

Still, I thought they had lived there for decades because of the moth-eaten mish-mash, down to the worn corded tassel in the basement loo, the mismatched threadbare antique chairs, the old red pile carpets so thick I tottered on my heels.

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Speaking of heels, I was told to dress smartly this morning, so I did. Black heels, black tights, black skirt with wraparound chain belt, and cotton paisley blouse. I don't usually wear heels with skirts for work, preferring flatter heels, though I do attempt them with trousers for some reason. Anyway, it got me groped on my way out of the Tube station this morning. Was passed by a black guy who seemed to be jogging, and before I knew it my rear end had been grasped. I was too shocked to exclaim because nothing like that has ever happened before, not even in Italy. What is the point of it???


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So, what did I see today? When I went out for lunch I walked through the gigantic Belgrave Square, where behind nearly every door there sits an embassy, and the only colour against the backdrop of cream and white are the many flags above the porticos. Also, it is the only time I have ever seen a Neoclassical grocery store. I went in there for my very very yummy sandwich: malted grain bread filled with mashed onion bhaji, cucumber, fresh red onion, mango chutney, mint dressing, and fresh coriander leaf. MmmmMMMmmMMmmMMmm, do try it sometime if you live here.


Waitrose at Belgrave Square

When I was leaving, I saw a black Mercedes pull up in front. The driver got up and ran round to let out a typical casually westernised Mideastern lady, you know, with the sunglasses in her hair, tight jeans and pointy snakeskin shoes, and as she strode into the store he literally trotted behind her, leaving the car right...where he...left it... I nearly laughed out loud at the scene. I am sure she didn't carry her own basket, oh no. I imagine she is the wife of one of the ambassadors lurking in the neighbourhood and lifts a finger for nothing.

Behind that Merc was another, and then behind that was a gorgeous gunmetal grey Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, purring as it awaited an opportunity to ooze into the stream of traffic.


The 40-50 year old classic Rolls Royce Silver Cloud

I walked back to the solicitor's house, around the square rather than through it, as this is one of the London gardens reserved only for keyholding residents. No way through that wrought iron fence for me, not like at St James's Square...


Homage to Leonardo in Belgrave Square garden.

She let me sit in the garden. Let me describe this typical London space. It is a patio actually (which is probably why residents need a garden in the square). There are trellisses against the fences, overflowing with all manner of creeping vine and vegetation. There is a deck table and chairs, an outdoor heater like the ones on restaurant terraces, a koi pond, and at the very end the impression of a nymphaeum with a classical statue standing before three mirrored arches. Looking back towards the house with its doors and windows was a black painted iron staircase spiraling down from the first floor, and a juliet balcony on the third (or vice versa). All this in an area about 12 ft by 24 ft, and that's one of the larger London patios!

I prefer a garden ANYDAY. Although quite pretty, this entire house and garden felt like a gilded cage. I think I have been living in the garden suburb of St John's Wood for too long...! And I have never lived without a garden before.

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Another reason I dressed smartly is because I was on a standby list for entry to the famed Chinawhite club, but didn't get the call, so after work I took a couple of stops west to Knightsbridge and went shopping at Harvey Nichols. The Food Hall carries an astounding "kick yo' ass hot" snack mix from Arizona. Habanero pepper, say no more. I love it, and have been meaning to go back for more.

I also needed to get my cousin (the charity director) a birthday gift. As she has everything and is quite fussy...I didn't know what to do. I settled on a lead-free pewter jam spoon that hooks onto the ledge of the jar. It very organic and not like anything I have seen recently, but I do think the Baroque metalworkers would appreciate it.




(I think I got her the shell one...)


The gift wrapping was complimentary, and I had a choice of occasional paper or classic silver and white Harvey Nicks with a silver bow. I thought that would complement the spoon nicely, so I chose that. I also had her wrap the book (signed by the authors!) I bought in the Food Hall for [someone I have just realised reads this blog]. I will send that for her [special occasion].



Right, you will hear from me after the weekend. I have a dinner on Sunday and day one at the A.C. on Monday...catch you then!

The Dinner

Not as big as I'd planned, but it was cosy. One day, one day, I will be able to see my friends in a group rather than individually.

Lydia and Anthony (the twins), my friends for 27 years (we don't even remember meeting), and Shiho, my friend from Christie's, came through for me at Cocoon, on Regent at Air Street. The others turned up at 11, but we had left by then! Ha. Lydia asked if I would be blogging this, and when I said yes, she said I should put all the pics up, so here they are. (Except for the scary closeup one Tony put on when we weren't looking, and it made me jump when I reviewed the pics.)


(In the larger version of this pic, we look related!)





We ordered lots of edamame with salt. All sorts of sushi - with FRESH wasabi, which was nice. Duck rolls. Seaweed salad. Softshell crab tempura (this was my fave!). We enjoyed the food, and had cocktails. I had a Jasmine Fizz (fresh passionfruit in champagne with jasmine), and then a lychee martini (vodka, lychee juice, rosewater, and a lychee fruit in the bottom).


Nice lighting.


Then we had dessert. Lydia and Shiho got sorbets on banana leaf strips on blocks of ice in wooden trays (banana, mango and rhubarb, passionfruit, strawberry).



Tony and I ordered green tea mochi with white chocolate and green tea ice cream and warm chocolate sauce, also all set on top of ice.




I had to help Lydia with her dessert



They want to come back here...

Shiho left, then we moved on to The Pigalle, that new 40s-style jazz club that has opened on Piccadilly.



Both Lydia and Anthony enjoyed themselves and know loads of people who will like it. We thought we were showing our age by turning up at, and enjoying, a place where the average age of the guests was 40, but Lydia said we were actually showing our wisdom. She always looks on the bright side. What I love about my Twins is that they make me laugh like a maniac.


Kindred spirits forever and ever...Lyds n Liv.



My favourite twins in the whole world!



Lydia said he looked a bit drunk in that one (he wasn't), and insisted on taking another:




So he put his glasses back on. Awwwwwwww, sweet eh?

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Here I opened my gifts. Shiho had given me a delicate selection of Japanese items:


A tiny mirror



A tube of incense wrapped in handmade paper with handwritten calligraphy



A tiny gold bookmark, nearly as delicate as a leaf


From Lydia:

A leather purse, coincidentally also Japanese

From Lyds & Tony & their entire family:


A special marcasite heart pendant. What is the green stone???