oh oh oh, remember when i said london was small? i shall prove my point. manda & lili left at 8 sharp, i woke up late (actually i got up when the alarm rang at 7 but i promptly pressed snooze and snuck back under the covers) - typical eh - so i thought: perhaps i'll join love & jo after 8.. as it turns out they left pretty early too. hence this little piggy boarded the 1005 express train. guess who i bump into at victoria? jo & love - and they left hours ago! *singsong voice* told cha.
in the end, we all managed to converge paths at portobello :) YAY FOR US.
let me introduce you to portobello & brick lane; my new favourite places.
two words: VIN and TAGE.
portobello
given it was my second (technically, third) time in portobello since i moved over, i was noticeably less enthusiastic with the whipping out of the camera. even so, i reckon i got some good shots somewhere in there.
one thing's for sure; the 'hawker food' sold along the streets is amazing. lili munched on crab claws/prawns while i gobbled down pizza/brownies, manda had a salmon&capers pastry. food galore much? it was almost too good to be true, and tons cheaper than eating at a fancy restaurant.
i was totally feelin' the free-spirit-boho vibe in the air, especially with bob marley and fat freddy's drop (nz music) playing all around - very reggaeesque - we spontaneously started dancing in the streets, twirling each other round and round.
yup, in the streets baby.
right after, we ventured into this mini market-within-a-market under a tent, with stalls set up all around. lili was quite enamoured with a neon silkscreened tee and a gold chair pendant on a chain, methinks. i stopped to
i started talking to the lady selling them aka linda, and somehow found myself deep in conversation; chatting about the markets (chatuchak, suan lum, platinum), my recent trip to krabi/ko lanta/bkk and all sorts of random stuff. apparently, she's a stylist in london/bkk and fyi was wearing the most divine navy dress with ruffles along and above the hem (from what i could see). her friend - who was downing redbull in an effort to rid herself of her hangover ha ha - revealed that occasionally, she gets to keep the stuff she styles.
that, was a chloe dress folks.
i screamed. for real.
and jumped a few feet into the air.
it was cute though. she wrote down the names/numbers of other outlets in bkk - for when i go on my self-proclaimed annual shopping trips - and her myspace address. later on i discovered that manda actually asked lili if i knew those 2 ladies prior to that, cause judging from our highly animated conversation, it looked as if i did. haha.
note: i've taken a liking to chatting up perfect strangers - ONLY APPLICABLE in foreign countries it seems. i warm up super quickly to people who are equally nice back.
a few stalls away, i bought a chiffon scarf for a pound! note: when i got home on sunday, i realised it matches my vintage dress perfectly. shade for shade, hue for hue, tone for tone. anyway, alex tied it around my head (cause i didn't know how to) and i wore it like that for the remainder of the day, and night. you'll see.. (on facebook) i felt pretty; a gypsy look made complete with large gold hoop earrings.
as we walked along, there were countless things i wanted to buy. "i was dying inside to hold you.." - timmy thomas. umm, irrelevant. right.
we came across this lady selling the most delightful cupcakes; alex and i had such a ridiculously difficult time picking two measly cupcakes to buy - as if it were a matter of utmost importance - it was honestly, ridiculous. we stood there eeny meeny miney moe-ing for the longest time *naughty grin* kay, fine! it was i who suggested the eenymeeny etc, that's how we settle disputes back home.
in the end i selected: carrot cake cupcake with pink frosting & white hearts. alex: vanilla flavoured cupcake with blue frosting & pink sprinkles. delish. the lady asked if we could write our names down in her little address book so she could mail us recipes to test and send her feedback. she was about to be published by randomhouse you see, isn't that cool?
alex + victoria = cupcake buddies!
hmm.. there's not much else i can write of portobello because we left soon after and headed back to alex's flat to primp for our long awaited night out.
alex's flat
our girl extraordinaire(s) [to be fair], manda (and alex) whipped up pasta for dinner, and concocted strawberry fizz + vodka pre-clubbing drinks, to sip whilst getting dolled up. having abstained from proper alcohol for a bit, i got lightheaded relatively fast. haha. lili/manda/alex can bear witness to that; it didn't take long for me to start dancing along to the imaginary music in my head. i vaguely recall humming and twirling around the living room, much to the amusement of everyone else. someone took photos as evidence. cue: lotsa posing & pouting.
i love getting dressed up/made up together, i hardly ever get to do that back home *pout* tragic, it's such a typically girly-sleepover-type activity! manda: black&white (she has a thing for monochrome) vintage dress, black leather jacket, liquorice necklace, boots? lili: black top with gold sequins, black bottoms and jacket, gorgeous beige heels. alex: white tank, black vest, brown pencil skirt, black heels. myself: white tank, black high waisted skirt, gold belt, lime&gold wedges, black peacoat. ooh, scarf around head :)
ready? here we go. i recall traipsing around king's cross, soho for sure, covent garden? in search of a cool club/chilled out pub to party at. i can't list them all; for the most of it, i was stumbling around half-high and very happy. it got to the point where we were randomly asking fellow partygoers milling around on the streets for suggestions, because it was getting a tad frustrating - right smack in the land of clubs yet not one seemed to beckon us in.
*grin* out of the blue, we bumped into 3 guys on the streets, or was it a junction? at a crossing? can't remember. all i know was that it was literally in the middle of nowhere. some dude stumbled up to manda and said "you're hot" or something to that effect. his friends ran up and held him back, telling us to ignore him, being drunk and all.
making full use of their sudden appearance, we asked them to recommend a place, any place. they kindly informed us they had 3 unoccupied female places on the guestlist of chinawhite *squeal* (v. posh club) and that they were off to meet some friends for roughly an hour, after which we could arrange to meet up and set off together. i exchanged numbers with one of the dudes and that was that.
you see, being in london does things to you.
AND i got asked out on a date by some dude. at a pub. while fixing my hair in a mirror at the entrance - the girls were using the loo upstairs. "you're beautiful" said he, then he did the deed. i shook my head and said "no" repeatedly. he asked if i was out on a date, i told him i was with friends but he didn't seem to get the message. weirdly enough, the girls asked him for directions when he went up the stairs afterwards - obviously they had no idea what had taken place. it's odd, back home i would never have been asked out this way, or at all. you know, man drought ring a bell? how random.
oh, i forgot to mention it was dervin's birthday on sat. heh by my standards, the b'day card we bought/customised was pre.tty cheeky. it had our lipstick imprints all over! *grin* we eventually found our way to a club called on anon, on d's recommendation. rockin! i actually had a fantastic time, despite the countless weird guys calling out "OI!" and some dude grabbing me from behind *shudders* i practically had to fight him off. i have to admit, i was more than a little shaken up by that, but i decided not to let it ruin my night.
pity, we never made it to chinawhite. the reception was so bad, i didn't get his text till it was too late. however we made plans to meet up another time. part 4 awaits.. *smiling like a cheshire cat*
i have to continue with sunday's activities another time, this post is getting wayy too long. *yawn*
xoxo
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