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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Winter Fashion Update

So I have created a public transport mood chart since I do not want to harp on the crappy London transportation every day since it is clearly going to be an issue for the rest of the winter. Today had the potential to be a RED alert but I took the bus this evening and it was the first time in living history that I enjoyed the bus ride from the train station to home. I had a seat at the back, near the engine so I was toasty, and I had an Evening Standard with Becks all over it, looking as sexy as ever (he is getting better with age I tell ya). Bliss. So after the horrible morning, where I waited almost an hour for my first train following cancellation after cancellation, and where the day at that point was hot red, it ended on a more subdued orange. The other colours are red, as previously discussed; blue for days when I am just either indifferent or just plain depressed, and yellow for the smurfy, happy days when they get it right. Something to aim for, London transport peeps. I imagine the people who had to sleep on the train to Kent or wherever it was last night, were a boiling red.

Anyway, I manage to surprise myself every time I face the stove. With the chill gripping my bones every evening after school, I decided to make myself another soup this morning before class. And after Sainsbury's not having my pre-cooked chicken breasts last evening, I was left with the task of making a veggie soup instead. I did find some scraps of ham and some mushrooms and I got some potatoes, onions, garlic, scallions, pumpkin, cauliflower, carrots and broccoli. What a wondrous concoction this was. I just had some with some crusty bread and it was pretty damn awesome. Add some orange juice and rum and it was a really warm experience.

And in winter fashion news, I am secretly stalking my neighbour's dog. Not having a dog of my own and missing having one, I listen out for him when he goes out into the backyard to chase foxes. He is a little thing, a Westie, but he is quite fierce in his own mind. Anyway, this weekend, in the deep chill, I saw my lover run out in the cutest little red coat and I actually found a spitting image of what he looked like.

Cute. I really love the doggie winter fashion. I love seeing the dogs in their coats and love that their owners love them enough to keep them nice and warm in this awful weather. And they are really stylin'. I mean, these dogs look better than some people!!

And it's not just the little dogs either. Brutus gets cold too.

It's so fun and sweet and can really put a smile on the face of someone stuck on a train platform for what seems like zonks.

And good luck to England tomorrow in Zurich. It's funny that the Brits are depending on a Trini (FIFA Vice President, Jack Warner - key to the 3 CONCACAF votes) to win their 2018 World Cup bid. Can I then demand perks tomorrow?

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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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