Half diary, half photo gallery for my recent visit to London.
Dao xiao mian at Lanzhou Lamian Noodle Bar
This restaurant is so tasty I went twice. Dao xiao mian chewiness is heaven. Portion is big too. My favourite was the Fujian Special Peanut Sauce(?) which is pretty spicy and delicious. I didn’t expect to like the cucumber shreds on top but they add the perfect contrast.
Standup comedy
I am extremely pleased I got to watch some standup, especially since one of my favourite standups was performing. I haven’t attended one of his gigs in person before but I vaguely remembered him saying (on a podcast?) that he likes to stare down audience members while performing and make them break eye contact with him. I’m pretty sure he did it to me. Fun. I suggested getting autographs from the performers as a half joke, but my friend encouraged me and I actually got them! I liked the venue too (upstairs at the Covent Garden Social Club) - cosy and the audience were in a good mood.
Train journeys
I was staying far out and needed to take the train for at least an hour each way to get to and from the centre. This downtime made me very happy. I basically got 2 hours of reading time a day! I enjoyed the latest Clarkesworld Magazine issue, “Fledgling” by Octavia Butler (she really wanted to be in a vampire polycule herself, I can feel it) and more books in the Mandarin Companion series.
Southbank Centre / National Theatre
Another stop on my journey in search of brutalist goodness. I’ve passed it by before, but when exploring it up close, it exceeded my expectations and quickly became one of my favourite places ever (from a visual standpoint). It’s way too big to appreciate all in one trip, so I will be back.
Unfortunately, I found it very difficult to take any good photos… I think part of the appeal is walking around inside it and feeling small and vulnerable, which is hard to capture in a photo. This is kind of weird to say, but feeling inside of something is a very unique and interesting feeling which I can only get from buildings. Someone created an environment for people to be inside… and I am inside it. (I don’t know what I’m saying)
Alexandra Road Estate
It’s certainly beautiful. But it’s hard to drink in and enjoy because, well, people are living there and there is no area aimed at tourists. I recommend it only if you are able to overcome your sense of shame at poking around someone else’s apartment building.
The three chimneys reminded me of the cover art for White Lies' ‘To Lose My Life…’, an album I’m very fond of.
Shoreditch / Brick Lane
As a Bristolian, Shoreditch felt like Stokes Croft turned up to 11 (and gentrified). I saw some new styles of sticker too. I found the hand signed Instagram photos especially weird and I can’t put my finger on why.
Like this.
Shoreditch made me think about how graffiti/street art is a cross between unfiltered social media, a graphic design contest, and an art gallery.
I ate with friends at “Pizza East” and it was really tasty. Especially their 5 cheese pizza.
My favourite was this pattern made from number stencils.
Random graffiti
Seen near Southbank Centre. The Chinese says ‘I’m a god!’ but what is that drawing on the right?
SSeen near Alexandra Road Estate. Arabic script which I can’t read. Do let me know if it’s something too rude.
Seen in Alexandra Road Estate and near Swiss Cottage. Stickers that are alluring because I can’t read them anymore.
Seen in the Swiss Cottage Library bathroom.