Sometimes you just have to do it... be you. In my case, it is letting my feet and my eyes be the guide to my curious brain and take me places. With this in mind, I left the house to end the year with a good note (no pun intended, but there were to be lots of notes on this day). My only concrete plan was the Opera and Operettas Concert at St. Martin in the Fields in mid afternoon, which meant, initially, I'd have about 3 hours to just listen to my clues and find places. We'll see what happens afterwards...
This quote by Oscar Wilde caught my eye while waiting for the train at Kew Gardens:
Looked like we were on the right track...
I left the house late morning to get breakfast at Kitchen and Pantry in Turnham Green (craving for the ham and cheese croissant I saw the day before, and a good cup of coffee - we have a long day ahead). Unfortunately, the place was packed, probably due to the fact that a lot of places are closed on December 31st - which was a fact I'd find in the next 30 minutes or so while walking from Turnham Green to Hammersmith and not encountering one decent independent coffee shop. When this happens, my interpretation is generally "OK, I am supposed to be somewhere else. Let's see where it is." In this case, it took me a while, but it certainly did happen...
Getting more and more hungry, but not willing to give in to chain-type food or coffee, I made it to Hammersmith and had my ham and cheese croissant (which turns out to be much better than what I expected) with latte (average but at least fresh) at Bakehaus (which has an interesting tagline: "Seriously German about Bread" - well, Germans have good bread, and know what to do with grains) before the train. No, this was not the find really, I thought it from the day before as a back-up plan. The good find here though, was the cookies, small, chocolatey, perfectly crunchy, and simply packaged - I am not a big cookie person, but I could see those becoming addictive, especially with a good cup of coffee in the afternoon! Can we have one of those in MD please?
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| Bakehaus cookies (perfectly chocolatey and crunchy, might cause addiction!) |
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| Umm... I think some people really enjoy being British... |
Having found a way to tame my hunger a bit, I headed to the city with the intent to check out the half price ticket box, and see if they might have anything interesting. Once I was in Leichester Square, I began to wonder around to come across this mecca:
... and tipped my hat*. Couple of minutes later, it was the view below which intrigued me, and knowing I was on the hunt for something, I had to follow...
This street led me to a part of Chinatown I had not seen before:
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| Newport Court in Chinatown |
Before too long, I was inside a tiny little shop with one woman doing the chopping, cooking, and customer interaction. Every now and then, a hurried young Chinese woman who seems to be a server would walk in, say something in Chinese and drop a tiny paper with what I assume to be orders on it. She didn't flinch, just kept working almost as if listening to a rhythm only she could hear: chop chop chop, collect skewers and pile them up on a plate, swish and swirl them in the pot that's been boiling behind the glass, and go back to chopping.
I had to have a steamed bun from the oven, and I had to try those mysterious skewers which were selected to be boiled in the concoction... Eventually, and after consulting with her, I selected octopus, fish ball, shiitake, and broccoli so I could try different textures and flavors with this method of cooking (does anybody know the name of this style of cooking? She told me it is from Western part of China. It is almost like making fondue with a spicy soup mixture)
By the time I came out with my "lunch box" I couldn't help but notice the line outside the door of the restaurant:
Clearly they were the same establishment, but why they didn't have a door or even an opening in between was a mystery. The poor young server had to come and go back twice through the crowded door and under the rain. The restaurateur in me wanted to suggest, but the travelist said not to mention a thing. Maybe they belonged to the "if it ain't broken..." school. Maybe they were too busy to even think about it. Whatever the reasoning, the line was there for a reason.
Impatient to try my "finds" I parked under a pagoda structure with a number of other Asian people. Some were eating like me, some were on the phone, some were waiting to meet someone. The bun wasn't too special as I've had many of those before and have found really tasty and juicy ones. But the skewers were incredibly tasty having absorbed the chills, the szechuan peppers, meat broth, and some spices, sauces and herbs I didn't know (or see) in the pot. They were still a bit firm to the tooth as they should be, but very very tasty, and very hot (this comes from someone who loooves chills and regularly eats them, so if you don't like things hot, you may not want to touch these skewers!) As I devoured my newly found Chinese skewer treats, I noticed a fairly nicely dressed Asian man approaching me. I was pretty sure that he was going to tell me not to eat under the pagoda, but to my surprise, he kindly asked me where I got my food from. He seemed to know what these were and clearly wanted to have some! Yes, this was definitely the find! After I pointed out the little shop, I noticed others eating similar buns around me, and I smiled with the joy of being the only non-Asian person under this pagoda and having found a (very hot) treat!
With a pleasant fire burning in my mouth, and only about 20 minutes left before the concert, I could think of one thing: bubble tea with milk. It would be pleasantly cool, and slightly sweet to balance the salt and the heat in my mouth, but where in the world would I find one of those? I had seen a shop between Leichester Square and Covent Garden once, but I didn't remember exactly where and I didn't have the time anyway. So I cleaned up the "table," threw the packaging in the trash bin, said good bye to the bun and skewer shop.
and took about 50 steps to come across... ... a bubble tea shop! It was a bit dark with the rain falling from the sky all day and umbrellas practically covering the tiny street, so it seemed as if it appeared magically out of nowhere, but I had to do it, I had to have bubble tea now! [one of my rules in life is "when you wish for something and it happens, or the conditions appear for it to happen, you can't turn it down..." My wishes don't realize that often, and I am afraid if I don't acknowledge them, I won't have any more wishes realize again!]
It wasn't the best bubble tea I had, but it accomplished the task of extinguishing the fire and leaving a pleasantly sweet and fresh taste in my mouth, so I was all set for the concert. Every now and then, life throws you a sweet ball (I am not too familiar with baseball terminology to know what the opposite of a curveball is, but if anybody knows, I would love to learn)
Now I was ready for some planned activity, which was the matinee for Operas and Operettas at St. Martin in the Fields. I went through the door, unsure of what I'd find when I came out...
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This could be the prettiest photo of the day
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