London - The forgotten blog post
Preface: I started writing this blog post in 2018. I never finished it and forgot about it, until now.
As I depart London Heathrow Airport, I get a quick surge of the NYC vibe. People of all nationalities, the grey winter day, and the hustle and bustle of the city. This was my first trip to Europe, or to any other continent outside of North America; other than my families origin country of the Philippines. The trip to London was not motivated by curiosity but by work. I was fortunate enough to be sent here on a mission, a mission that not many in my position get the opportunity to even entertain. I was excited when I received the news, but had no expectations. Leading up to my departure, I was consistently bombarded by questions of: "What do you have planned?" "What do you want to see?" "What's the first thing you're going to do?" In which I simply replied to, "I have no plans, or ideas on what I want to do."
I rarely have expectations of anything, which means I rarely ever get disappointed; but always pleasantly surprised.
I arrived on a late Sunday morning, and after a 40 minute customs queue (European for Line), 20 min of riding the lift (British for elevator) up and down on trying to figure out where the "Uber pick up" section was, and an 1 hour and 20 mins in traffic, I finally arrived at my Airbnb. My Flat, accommodated by my company, was modern and chic. Large white tile floor, huge arched windows that stretched from floor to ceiling, and a modern kitchen where the fridge was designed to look like just another cabinet. The bathroom was my favorite part, as the shower was meant to emulate a rainfall, as if if didn’t rain enough in London. The room had a king size bed, and same arched windows as the living room. One other perk of this Airbnb, was that it was a 4 min walk to the office, and had plenty of food options around. Although I mainly stuck to the fast food Thai place right under me, and the Sainsburry food market around the corner. Mainly kept visiting those places for conveniency. Of course I tried all sorts of places while I was in London, but the food options in that part of town felt like any other metropolitan city in America.
The first official work day arrived on a Monday, where after work one of my co-workers took me to 2 different pubs where at both locations my drinks came in a martini glass. On the way there, I spotted a restaurant where it advertised it's fish and chips. Even though I've been transitioning to a plant based lifestyle, I knew I had to try some of the local/cultural food. My co-worker quickly turned down my idea to visit that fish and chip spot, as she said “it's going to be terrible.” In my eyes, you have to try the bad in order to understand what the good taste like. So after a couple of drinks, I said let's do it, and I was quite surprised. I know the difference between bad food and good food. However, like I said earlier, I have no expectations. So the fish and chips was surprisingly good. Although I can see how it can be perceived as bad. The fish had no flavor, and the chips were a little soggy...okay, so I guess it was bad.
The following day, two other co- workers took me out to see St. Pauls Cathedral and the Millennium bridge. We then went up into One Exchange which is a shopping center, but had a great rooftop view of the Cathedral and the Shard. Again, I was rushed with NYC vibes.
By the time Wednesday came along, I was so tired as I have only been getting around 2-3 hrs of sleep a night due to the jet lag, that I decided to stay in and try to acclimate with the time change. Same thing happened on Thursday, and Friday. Both nights I just walked around the neighborhood to get feel of the town. This is probably a good time to mention that I was residing in the Shoreditch district of London. East London to be more specific. I've been told that it's Brooklyn of London, minus all the factories.
Saturday came around and I didn't wake up until about 11:45 am, in which I continued to stay in bed while watching Netflix. I had just started binging on the network series Suits. I thought it would be a good time to start watching Suits, considering Meghan Markle was about to enter The Royal Family. Finally getting out of bed, and getting ready for the day, I decided that day's destination would be Tower Bridge. Commonly mistakenly known as London Bridge. Looking at the weather, which was rain...expected. I actually decided to leave the umbrella as the percentage of rain was only 30%-40%. As I started walking, so did the rain. Instead of turning around to grab the umbrella, I decided to be a true Londoner, and not let the rain bother me.
I was enjoying the sites of the streets until I was suddenly greeted by a large group of tourists, which is when I knew I was by the Tower Bridge. I continued down to the River Thames, in which I found a location that would be suitable for a picture, and quickly remembered that I need to add The Tower Bridge to my collection of Bridges that I have. After the quick sight seeing, I kept walking around the area which was really nice. There was an abundant amount of boats, cobbled roads, and food vendors to be had. The small area would remind you of any ocean town in America.
Sunday came, and all I wanted to do was stay in bed; Probably because of how busy the last two weeks have been. Before the trip to London came up, I had to move out of my apartment, and into a new one. With all the last minute moving, making sure that my team in LA was set up for when I would be away, and making sure that all my address changes were taken care of, really tired me out. How could you just stay in bed when you're visiting a new city? I brushed the laziness off and set off to Brick Lane.
Brick Lane is a street market fair of sorts. Lots of food vendors, vintage shops, small business vendors, and street musicians. This place was cool. I managed to find some small gifts to bring home for my niece, nephew, sister, and brother in law. I wandered into the back area of Brick Lane where I discovered the Nomadic Park. Filled with artistic graffiti, junk turned into art, and a tree that had old shoes thrown onto the branches. As I was getting ready to leave I reached for my phone to get directions home, but then I realized I didn't have the phone on me! I quickly ran back to the book stand I was at, and thought
(didn't finish my thought)
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*Rediscovering this draft and deciding to finish it to the best of my memory.
August 5th, 2020, two years later...
Ok, where did I leave off...
Ah! I couldn't find my phone! I ran back to the last location I visited which was a book stand and searched around. I was thinking maybe I sat it down as I searched for books. I asked the person who was there and they said they didn't see any phones laying around. I retraced my steps, while the confirming thought of being pickpocketed grew more and more. It was obvious. I was spotted as a tourist and was tailed until they got me. Luckily it was my work phone, but it was still a blow. Definitely a story to remember as I had to go to the local police station to file a report to give back to my company for records and insurance claims. I really felt like an idiot. After the realization of the phone being gone, I got a little lost trying to find my way back to the flat. It's been quite a while where I got lost without the safety of a mobile device to guide me back. Thankfully, there were maps all over that part of London and quickly found my way back. I grabbed some Thai food for dinner and resumed watching Suits.
The rest of the week was more or less of the same. My morning routines translated over to London, where I would make a stop at Shoreditch coffee for a flat white before heading into the office. After work it would be a new local restaurant for dinner, or random walks down cobbled streets. Thinking back at it now, I don't remember taking too many photos. Maybe I don't remember taking many photos of things that felt inspired.
*hold while I look through some raw shots to spark my memory
*Wow, perspective always changes. Found some gems that I'm going to edit now and post on IG.
I left London on a Friday afternoon and returned to LA Saturday morning. London was kind to me, I hope we meet again.
