lundi 28 janvier 2008

london day 1

Hey all, I'm back from London! Arrived an hour or so ago. I had an amazing, really chill time with my cousin, his wife and the baby which was what I wanted. Not so much touristy things all crammed together. Just an easy weekend. See some sights and hang out.

DAY 1
Taking Eurostar is super easy and relatively cheap, I love it. And trains are pretty fun. I can see why Buster Keaton loves them so much. To me, they're the best form of land travel. Maek, my cousin, picked me up at St. Pancras Station in London. He drove with Lorraine, his wife, and the baby Jaiya. This is my first time meeting Jaiya.Went to Chinatown and had late lunch. So weird ordering in English. And eating REAL CHINESE FOOD. So good. Walked to National Portrait Gallery and saw a lot of cool paintings. Jaiya pointed at a painting of the Queen and said, "Poppa!" It was hilarious. Even an elderly British lady overhead and laughed. Then to the Somerset House to see their exhibit. Saw a lot of cool old snuff boxes. I picked these places because they were free to get into, but we also did see a photography exhibit at the NPG for 1 pound.

After, we headed home which is in south London called Clapham. They live in a three story house that they re-done, and it's absolutely GORGEOUS. Very modern. Loz (Lorraine) told me that they were actually contacted for a deco magazine, but it didn't pan out.

Chilled out at the house, and the sitter came to take care of Jaiya and we ate at The Sequel, this modern, fancy place that projected movies on the wall. Maek and Loz were happy to have a dinner out without the baby. I had steak, as did Loz, with potatoes and sticky toffee pudding with ice cream which was excellent.

After, Loz and Maek took me to their friend, Buffer's (that's his nickname) birthday barhopping thing, which was really cool. Their friends are super nice and funny. Someone asked Buffer what the plan was and he said, "First we'll find a bar then we're getting Punyo's (that's Maek's first name--Maek is his nickname) cousin SMASHED!" We met at The Pitcher and the Piano then moved to the bar Calvados. It was pretty hopping. Loz's friend Mikel was super smashed and kept talking to me, it was really funny. Her husband didn't drink much and was just watching after her. Then Mikel said, "I'm going to smoke a fag" and I said okay, and then I could hear her talking loudly to her husband saying, "TALK TO HER!" meaning me. It was funny. Her husband, Dave, came over and we chatted.

It's funny, I think British men are the most well dressed men EVER. They know how to put an outfit together just as French women know how to put an outfit together. British women as well. Yeah, I'm gaga for British guys and being in London sort of rejuvenated my love for them.

I don't remember who, but one of the guys gave me a shot, and Loz said I didn't have to drink it, but I drank it, and it wasn't that bad. We left early, around 12:30am, to get back to the sitter.