London Under Snow, Again

Image courtesy Getty Images via Times LIVE

So it's snowing again, and again, London has been paralysed. This time though, it can snow all bleedin' day as far as I am concerned cause I have no school, no nothing, so I have no reason to go outside. I just snuggled up with a glass of white wine, which should send me straight to dreamland in a few minutes, and I am officially in hibernation for the next two weeks. The weather has created problems for friends trying to make their way home for the holidays though and for this, I am sorry. For me, that was never an issue, cause as the world knows, I am not able to go home, and the depression is very real, but I promise not to dwell on it. I am thinking of  volunteering at a centre over the holidays to remind myself that life is pretty damn awesome.
School is closed for the next couple weeks but we have 2 exams as soon as the break is over so I have stuff to keep me busy and to keep my mind occupied. Not the things I would have anticipated but hey...

I have not been bitten by Rudolph, or elves or whoever or whatever is supposed to bite a person to get them feeling all Christmassy. Between school and this nasty, persistent flu, Christmas has, until now, been the furthest thing from my mind. Now with the snow, I am loathe to change out of my comfy, warm pyjamas to attempt going out into London to do anything. But I have noticed the neighbours putting up trees and strings of lights and Santa hats. One neighbour has a sign up that says

WELCOME SANTA! WE BELIEVE!

I really hope Santa does not disappoint them. He has disappointed me on many a Christmas so my sign should read:

SANTA! BEWARE!

I am not sure how people even contemplate having a social life in these conditions. I am unwilling to even go walk the few hundred metres to the jerk chicken shop to get some jerk pork, far less, stand at a bus stop or train platform to go into London for a good time (been really craving the jerk pork though...I wonder if they deliver?). I am making my good time at home tonight, though if my cousin has his way, we will be at another Caribbean party not too far from here. I guess it all depends on how soon I start going stir crazy in here. I am busily searching for sites where I can watch movies online since Sky really is shit. Looking outside every 5 minutes though, and seeing only white, sure does cure me of any wanderlust.

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G on my Chest - The Garlic Master

What a difference a few days can make to the world, to my emotional health and sanity.

Thursday morning.

Dismal backyard view - what's that white stuff?

This morning.

Almost bbq weather in London today!

It's amazing. I almost did not recognise the place. And there was this strange yet familiar looking yellow orb in the sky all day. Fantastic. Pity I could not go outside and enjoy it. I swear, by the time I am done with this Masters degree, I will loathe every brand known to man. God...these assignments are insane. I got 2 hours sleep last night, woke up this morning, took a shower, had some breakfast while realising Muse was on one of the music channels all day (I love Muse) and then came back up to this f#@!y. lol. I am such a sucker for progress.

But I also made another disturbing discovery.

It finally hit me - the reason I am single.

Yes. I love garlic. If you asked me to give up chocolate for a week, I could do it. Wine, in this weather, it would be a challenge but on a normal day, yes, I could give it up. Garlic? It would be near impossible. I was sorting out my groceries and realised I am a garlic master.

I got garlic bread, soft cheese with garlic, garlic and onion pasta sauce, a new bottle of garlic seasoning, and of course fresh garlic. Let's not forget my new favourite snack, Boursin garlic and herb cheese. It goes great with sauv blanc and Ritz crackers. Really good.

It's not the most romantic fetish, I admit but it has health benefits and with just a bit of garlic you can avoid using loads of salt and fat in your cooking. My cousin attempted to cook a curry one day without garlic and I was beyond alarmed. I mean, the mainstay of a good chunkay* is frickin' garlic. I keep telling this dude he has been living in this country for way too long.

It's also part of the reason he is now moaning and groaning as men are inclined to do when sick. He's got a cold, not pneumonia but you would never believe it the way he is carrying on. But while I make fun of my Sainsbury's pasta drawer, I also try to eat well, with a fresh soup, a fresh salad or legumes or high protein and fresh juices. So it's the tropical cousin - who is "enjoying" her first winter ever, who wakes up at 5am to brave the British breeze at the bus stop to get to class, who sleeps 4 hours or less on many a night, completing inane assignments - who is fully alert, healthy and perky. And it's the British by proxy cousin, who has been here for 20 years, who is battling the winter germs. Maybe if he ate some garlic-infused fresh meals, a  fresh salad ever so often, instead of Tesco's cole slaw and a pasty for dinner, then he would be as super as I am.

By the way, I was walking through the mall one day and was ravenous and got myself a Gregg's cheese and onion pasty, which to my non-Brit friends is like a cheese pastry. It was without a doubt, the nastiest thing I had ever sunk my teeth into in my life. After suffering through 2 bites of this thing I had to throw it in the bin - waste of my  £1. I think it was the cheese. I am used to NZ cheddar in my cheese pies and I am not sure what this was, but it was not a fun experience. It was oozing and white and ugh.

Maybe next time I will pay tribute to cheese, something else I don't think I could live without - unless it's in a cheese and onion pasty.

p.s. However, the cheese and onion twists at M&S and Tesco - awesome!!!
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*chunkay - (the process of adding heated oil infused with cooked garlic; process of frying aromatics and spices in oil - a process especially associated with preparing curry in Trinidad and Tobago)

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The Great London Thaw

Well, first let me show off my award. I love awards.

Thank you, Facing50WithHumour. I enjoy reading your blog because it is hilarious, real and full of fun. I need that every day. As for bestowing the award, that's always a bit harder because mostly my non-blogging friends read this blog and not too many other bloggers. :-( But if I can give it back to you, in thanks for being a regular, and one I adore, then I will.

Secondly, today was, surprisingly...

...despite the closure of the District Line, which meant I had to take a series of buses and trains instead to get to Dagenham. But I got there without any major disruption which takes me to my next point.

Thirdly, I now have clipped ends and spunk back in my locks. Money well spent from the unemployed student's coffers. Another week could not have gone by with my hair in such a state. My motto in life is, you may be poor, but you can still be fabulous, and hell...hell, if I was going to look like some heathen in December of all months. If I have to eat Sainsbury's crackers for the rest of the month to make up for it, I will but I don't have to be nervous if the wind blows my hat off anymore. Yaaay.

But...as soon as I walked out of the salon, it began raining. Really, England? Really???

Getting back to my part of London, I went to Sainsbury's, got a heap of vegetables, some pasta for the pasta drawer (of course!), some garlic bread, some apple doughnuts (for the sweet tooth), some pork chops (for my inner Nigella), some chicken breasts and a bottle of wine (for my inner lush), and yet I came home and felt an intense craving for corned beef. Corned beef. Something I rarely eat but when I crave it, I enjoy it immensely. Luckily, my cousin always buys stuff, never uses any of it, and I am the expiration date stalker. And there was a tin of far from expiration date corned beef in the cupboard, and I added some onions, corn, tomatoes and sweet peppers to it and put some garlic bread in the oven to get warm, golden brown and crispy. Queen Elizabeth never had a better lunch/dinner!!!

There were a lot of *drip drip* sounds across London as the snow and ice melted and a lot of *thud thud* as cakes of ice fell off windscreens and windowsills. God answered my prayer and gave me excellent Saturday weather and I shudder just typing that because this is by no means excellent by tropical standards, but trains were running, buses were not skating off the roads, and salons were open, so yes...it was EXCELLENT weather today. So next up, Friday and Saturday climate excellence. I will not be greedy and ask for the entire week but I have places to be on both days and I would appreciate if it were not snowing or raining. I never thought I would say this but I can tolerate the cold. I cannot tolerate, however, precipitation of any kind so please...

And in winter fashion updates, female hamsters really amaze me. Here it is, I am dying to get me a pair of sexy high heeled boots but with my rational mind I know these would not work for long walks on the icy pavements, not to mention walking in London in general. I have felt my boot on the edge of many a skid in the past week, witnessed many a fall yesterday, including one gentleman who just sat on the ice and started laughing hysterically - and all in flat, practical snow boots. Why on earth then are the female hamsters in boots that look like these?

I am really beginning to question the character of some of these women. I love looking good but at the expense of my limbs? At the expense of my safety? At the expense of my pride? I say a silent prayer with every foot fall on the ice on my walk home and pray to God I don't go flying down the pavement with a thud. Yet these hamsters are clippity clipping  and treading carefully in non-skid-proof platform and stiletto-heeled boots and shoes. I am really concerned. But then maybe they are more skilled in navigating the ice than I am.

Maybe. I pray that none of them fall in my presence because I am not sure I would be able to stifle the laughter.

Finally, I really hate the garbage bag jackets. You know...the shiny jackets that look like an inflated garbage bag. And worse, they're quilted. The ones like these...

The really scary part is when larger women wear them. I am not a matchstick myself and I will NEVER wear a jacket like this. But ladies, in general, this jacket should be worn in maybe a brown or white, but not garbage bag black or blue, and certainly, if you're over a certain size, you really should avoid these jackets because then you look a bit like...well...like this.

The Michelin Man

I am seeing more and more of this jacket around London and I am not sure if they are trendy, expensive or just on sale, but God...please let the madness stop.

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London Paralysed Again

Photo courtesy BBC -
Rail line between London and Brighton under snow.

I had decided yesterday after freezing my booty off on the platform waiting for my train, that the 9am class today was not worth the trouble and though I don't like missing the 1pm class, I was not going all that way, and through all the trouble of readjusting my journey plans to get a train that actually is running for one class either. Thus I had written off Thursday December 2, 2010 as a home-day. So when I saw the email from school that campus was closed, I felt vindicated. I was also a tad bit alarmed because what if I had decided to put the "S" on my chest and to actually go today? The email came at 7.44am by which time I would have been out in the Tundra already, maybe on my way to campus. I would have been so pissed. But intuition won and the school was spared a torching and I am a bright YELLOW today. The public transportation system has been under serious pressure and God, I can only imagine the chaos today.

It's really cold outside though and I envy noone out there today. I am working on assignments today, though I am more inclined to get back under my blanket and sleep. It's really a challenge to study and be productive when the view from the front door looks like this...

The view from my window is pretty cool, but snow is only beautiful when you're not outside in it.

My main concern now is not the snow and the hundreds and thousands of people stranded somewhere out there, but will this damn snow mess with my salon appointment on Saturday? That's the real crisis! I hope the weather gets better. Dear God, I just want 8 days of okay weather starting on Saturday, so I can get my hair done, get my birthday on and just be a happy bunny. Is that too much to ask? I think it might be, so let's just work on Saturday morning and I can be content with that. I have a great week ahead and great week and great mood has to start with great hair...even if it is under a hat all day.

I am happy I am home to watch the World Cup bid announcement live as well. I am rooting for the Brits on this one. I wonder if all the people out there at the stations are even thinking about it. So sad.

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Mind The Gap

So last night, it seems as though everyone was up waiting for snow. I was up idling on social media and so happened to catch the many cries for snow from weird people in London. Don't believe me?

I called it the Great Snow Watch 2010. At a little after midnight, I put on the floodlights and sure enough, objects looking like specks of dust were floating past my window. Twenty minutes after that, the specks were gone and the snow watch was over?

Lie. I woke up to snowfall and cars covered in this white shit. Oh, was my first snow experience supposed to be romantic? I assure you - IT WAS NOT. Snow is a helluva nasty thing - it turns to brown slush, it floats down on you and melts, making you a soggy, cold mess. It's cold. Snow is not fun.

And yes...all the silly people who were wishing for it last night and so upset that places like Kent were under pressure while London was so pathetic for not having snow - I hope all of you were stranded at the train stations like I was because the "pathetic London snow" caused delays of up to 2 hours. The train to Sandwich lived up to its name today. I was clearly the burger pattie in a British sandwich on the train to Sandwich which I had to wait over 45 minutes for, while the little notice board ticker said "Due in 2 mins" for 45 minutes.

From the perspective of someone coming from the developing world aka Third World, into a developed country aka First World country, this was abysmal. It cannot be safe to have half of London packed like sardines onto these trains. I mean, people were hanging on for dear life out of doors while the conductors pleaded for them to move down into the train so the doors could close. And then when you get to your stop, noone wants to get off to let you off because there are another million people on the platform waiting to take that spot. It was a nightmare. And it was not even a blizzard. Okay, it got a bit heavier as the day wore on but I have seen images on tv worse than this. London worse than POS, man. A little bit of rain and we flood. A little bit of snow and the whole city shut down. Really?

And I ask again, how is this city going to host the Olympics in 2012 when it can hardly transport the people in the city now? Add hundreds of thousands of tourists and this has to be a recipe for disaster. I would love for someone to tell me how this is going to work.

This was the worst day of my life and I have at least 3 more months of this? Oh God. Winter wonderland, my ass. I foresee a few days of missing school. No lie.

But the good news is, I have a flask to top up with rum to keep the soul and bones warm during the nightmare called winter! And I just got some really sexy potatoes from the Afro Caribbean shop (run by Pakistanis) to make a vegetable and ham soup tomorrow morning. Cheers!

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No-Assignment Weekend

I dubbed it my No Assignment weekend. Sure I still have an assignment due, and an exam looming but really...I had gotten to the point where my brain was over-subscribed and my body over-taxed and with a 2 week lead until said assignment is due, I dubbed the weekend No Assignment weekend. It was an added bonus that my regular group was not to be the group for the last assignment due, so we actually finished before the weekend, which really was the primary contributing factor to having a weekend at all. But I digress.

I just woke up from a 4 hour nap, after waking up at 1pm to start with; after getting home at 4.30am from a night out at Guanabara; after spending the day out with a friend having coffee and laughs; after spending Friday evening like a normal human being at the movies, checking out the new Harry Potter movie. It was a lovely school-free weekend, spent with good friends, good drinks and having good times. Well, with the exception of being doused with beer at the club, first when 2 chicks decided to have a go at it using drinks instead of fists; then when some clown decided to fist pump with the beer bottle in his hand; and finally, even after purposely staying out of the line of fire, or in this case, the line of beer, I still managed to have a bottle of beer tip over all over my boots. I was probably not the person anyone wanted to sit next to on the bus home.  A free review for Guanabara though - great nightspot if you love samba and if you love urban music. I was a happy Trini when the riddim section came on, so reminiscient of the Laventille Rhythm Section. The drums, the Carnival girls - I felt like I was back home. Pig in mud feeling, lemme tell ya.

It was also a cold one. The weather is terrible. Getting off the bus this morning, I almost did a Usain Bolt type sprint down the street to my house. I am wondering if I will even survive the winter. I am not good with cold. Hell, I could barely function in my office with the hostile air conditioning back home. This is a million times worse and if I could hibernate like bears and foxes for the winter and resurface in the spring, that would be okay with me. Sadly, with school, that seems improbable. Two fellow post-grads of the Trini persuasion will be heading home in 2 weeks and my jealousy knows no bounds. The sun, the heat, the food, the private transportation. Oh my God, waiting in the sub zero temps this morning for the bus that took its bloody time to get there was torture. How do people have a social life under these conditions? I had a good chuckle as I watched the female hamsters in their micro mini dresses and not much else, battling with the cold. I mean, is vanity so powerful that you prefer to leave home looking sexy, risking sure death from the cold? Really? It really is something else.

Watching State of Play and snacking on Cadbury dark chocolate fingers. I will be back to student life tomorrow but enjoying the last of human life today.

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Booting Up

It's starting to get a bit nippy in good ole Blighty. My girlfriend and I, during our girlie adventures today, ventured onto Oxford Street as she tried to find a pair of cute boots for the impending winter months. I am a bit worried myself about the winter because though I love shoes, I also hate them at the same time. I am most comfortable in a pair of flip flops or open toed shoes, and in my regular life, I own 2 pairs of closed toe shoes. Now being here, my feet feel imprisoned all the time. I actually walk with a pair of FFs in my bag for some release between train stops because my feet really love being free. Dreadful I tell you. But I do love seeing a nice leg in a nice boot. My classmate has won me over with her assortment of wellies, Uggs and other such bootie fashion. I am officially jealous.














I also miss having a salary to buy such cute accessories like boots and pom pom hats. Sigh.

But I really had a lovely day out today. The hilarious thing about English weather is even with the sun shining, blue skies and fluffy clouds, you still would not dare walk out the door without a scarf, and a coat. It was cold no tail today. The eye candy display was better today than in recent days, and as we snarfed down some Mexican food at Wahaca, I spotted some really fantastic specimens of 2-legged cuteness. I came home to a barbecue - the last for a while - and good friends and a boy, who is enjoying my unique brand of silent treatment. I just don't have the energy right now. I also talked to my dad, and I think I am now satisfied enough and well prepped to spend the rest of the weekend with the books.

And for those who were so amused by yesterday's entry, I think he realised that his attempt at playing games with me backfired, so imagine my mix of disgust and amusement this morning to see a text from Mr Bright and Incredible asking if I was free this evening. What a sad person.

I have not taken a single photo of my new surroundings since I have been here. I aim to do better this week. Gotta smell the roses right? Especially before they freeze and die.

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