About Rose: I grew up in Singapore, lived in Melbourne but currently call London home. I love gastronomic adventures, especially while travelling. I stated writing at 17 to remember how it all began.
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04 June 2015
Thursday, 10.10pm
This is the first night in two weeks that I finally have a quiet moment to sink into the couch with a few hours to myself. I just have been so (wonderfully) busy traipsing around London that somewhere along the way, caught unaware, spring has given way to hints of summer.
I have been seeing friends, old and new, indulging in meals and making the most out of every moment. I want to detail the great times because when I look back one day on my time in London, I want to vividly and gratefully remember what a great time in my life it was.
I want to remember that spring officially began with a trip to the Chelsea Flower Show. As the nights stretched on, there were dinners in Soho at the quirky Sketch Gallery and at a cheeky Mexican spot at La Bodega Negra. And somehow, while wandering around in Brick Lane, Hoxton and Shoreditch discovering the vintage stores and street art I realised summer was in the air. The streets were bursting with life and the Dalston Yard Street Feast offered revellers a gastronomic experience of flavours.
It was more than just the weather. I was blown away at the National Gallery discovering the life of Paul Durand-Ruel and the art of the Impressionists he introduced to world; was captivated by a brilliant cast in the West End production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time; marvelled as I watched Shakespeare's King John at the Globe Theatre; and was genuinely bewildered at the Heartbreak Hotel immersive theatre experience at Greenwich Jetty.
Amidst all that, I managed to somehow sneak in an afternoon walk through Stoke Newington where I happily (and finally) purchased a teapot, and spent a few hours one evening listening to jazz while sipping delicious drinks at my new favourite speakeasy Nightjar.
And so, as F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.
"Don't you know that each time I do
Just the thought of you makes me stop before I begin"
- I've got you under my skin, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons