jeudi 13 mars 2008

west end girls: london day 2

Saturday

Woke up a little late, guess we were pretty tired. Loz was nice enough to make us some toast even though Lucia and I previously agreed we would not bum food off my cousin's fam. They were letting us stay here for free after all. We gave them some French wine as a thank you beforehand. They gave us two thick slices of wheat toast, butter, and honey--delicious. Also some coffee to wake us up.

Lucia met Jaiya, who was totally enthusiastic about her new visitors. Showed us the backyard, her bike, Mr. Nicky (her stuffed monkey) all the while having a cookie stuck to her arm. So cute. Lucia bought tickets for us for the London Eye, which I have never done before in all my trips to London (totaling 4 now!).We copied down the "Millennium Walk" from my Let's Go book and decided to do only parts of it. We first went to the Globe Theatre and had the tour. There was a hot Brit guy on the stage rehearsing too so that was exciting. Wish we could have seen a play, but they start doing those in the spring and summer. Then walked down the Thames toward the London Eye. Unfortunately it started to drizzle so the pods were a bit wet. Saw a pretty awesome view of everything down the Thames: Big Ben, all the bridges, House of Parliament. For some weird reason I was more interested in the pod itself as well as the whole apparatus of the wheel and just kept staring at the other pods full of people in them.After the Eye, we were both pretty hungry, I mentioned that we passed this restaurant my cousin took us too when I first came to England except I went to the Covent Garden one. It's a noodle chain called Wagamama. I'm not usually pushy about where or what to eat, but I got a bit nostalgic and said, "Can we eat here? I haven't been here in a long time. It's really good." Lucia agreed.
Walk into this large room, almost like a mess hall. Very modern and minimalist. You sit right next to strangers and catch all their interesting conversations. Thankfully, Lucia and I got to sit at the end of a table so it's easier to talk. We got green tea, gyoza to start, and Lucia got spicy noodles, and I got ramen soup to battle my cold. I wrote down on the paper placemat with my Lamy what we did so far and we discussed what else to do in this part of town.

Lucia had remarked, while looking around the restaurant, "There are definitely some wows in this room." She meant the British guys. Lots of cute British guys everywhere we go. In Clapham too. Maek said that Clapham (where we were staying) has the largest concentration of under 30s in western Europe. If I could, I would just move there, buy Maek and Loz's house, and just hope to God I meet my next boyfriend/husband there. Heaven. Lucia spotted a blond guy ("And I don't even really like blonds!") that was super cute with a green shirt and jeans.

What I love about the guys here, more so than even the French guys, is that they dress more casual here and still look good. They know what size jeans to wear, they all have different and nice hair--they're like the middle ground between California casual and Parisian chic. And it's the same with the girls here too--more casual. I'm feeling that I'd be more at ease in London when I'm out and about in my jeans and hoodie than I am in Paris. I practically wished I chose to study Cinema in London than French in Paris, but c'est la vie.

Our food came, first the gyoza then the noodles, and boy was it DELICIOUS! I could go here once a week, I swear. If this was in SF or even in LA, it would totally take off. Lucia loved her spicy noodles--finally something spicy. Not a lot of spicy things in France. We ate slowly like we're accustomed to in France and then our table was totally empty, so I took this photo: Then we got ice cream, coconut with some citron sauce and coconut flakes. Tasty. Our lovely server came by and saw my camera on the table and actually asked us if we wanted our photo taken. How sweet. See how nice people are? After lovely late lunch, we went back to the Globe Theatre to see the exposition. Got a call from Keisha who was also in London with her mom asking us if we wanted to eat Indian food now instead of that night around 8. Lucia and I were both pretty full, so we had to decline which sucks. Then Lucia and I took a random bus around London and got off when it stopped at a Tube station near Tower Bridge. We walked across it--so beautiful at night!--and then took the Tube home.We were greeted by Maek who was working in front of the tv. Oh God, to have a job that allows you to sit in front of a tv on a comfy couch with a laptop on your lap--that's the life. He designs websites. We were a bit hungry so he gave us some delivery menus. We chose pizza. We ordered in and he also let us buy a movie through his satellite tv. He let us sit on the couch that he was sitting on that's "perfect for vegetating" and that he'd just passively sit and watch with us while working.

So for our second night in London, we ate pizza and watched the Edith Piaf movie with Marion Cotillard, which was very good, and I've always liked her anyway. Funny to watch this in England of all places.