LONDON CALLINGS

Still haven't gotten into a work / home rhythm. Expect posts to be short, incoherent, and oh-so-lacking insight.

In other words, this blog as it's always been, only set in London.

Anyway, let's try to catch up . . .



Diversity, thy name is London.

Just based on the number of different faces I see and accents I hear on the Tube, and how far from the city center I still see/hear them, places like New York got nothing on London in terms of diversity. This was even recently celebrated at a Migrants' Mass at Westminster Cathedral (where I think we had diversity to thank for such a jiggy choir-leader =)

A little observation on the local food, or as they call it here, Thai.

There's a surprisingly large number of high-end Thai restaurants here, seemingly the anchor of every town's High Street (pubs aside). And for whatever reason, during the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I's first several days in London, all of our new acquaintances took us out to dinner to every place except those that served British fare. It wasn't until well into our second week that the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I finally got to tear into some real fish-and-chips.

Even here, the LLDD-Hyphen-L's the one who gets all the cool gigs.

I shoo the LLDD-Hyphen-L to go off to the museums near Trafalgar Square while I'm at work, so of course she comes back as an extra in the latest T-Mobile commercial featuring Pink (the follow up to the uber-cool "Dance" commercial). To make matters worse, I could hear the roars from my office window, and now can't get "Na na na na" out of my head.

Mark my words, right hand-drive will be the death of me.

I'm still thrown off by the whole drive-on-the-other-side-of-the road thing. Sure, the pedestrian lanes help by telling you which way you should look when you cross, but they also make my 30-plus years of Philippine-street instinct want to look the other way even more (like when someone says "Don't think about Juday", so of course now you can't help but think of nothing but Juday). I'll get used to it soon enough, but until then I keep on embarassing the LLDD-Hyphen-L by yelling things like "Hey, there's a dog driving that car!" before realizing "Oh right, that's the passenger seat."

(BTW, for all the cars, the roads here are generally quiet because drivers hardly honk their horns. When they do honk, it's usually long, preceded by a braking/screeching sound, and succeeded by some verbal variant of "wanker")

Bow before your limescale overlords

Very soon after you arrive in London, you will be taught to fear the limescale. It's apparently a build-up of minerals in the water that, if left unchecked, will break down washing machines, dishwashers, faucets, toilets etc. It's such a concern that a whole industry of cleaners, chemicals and filters is devoted to raising the limescale bogeyman and countering its effects. At the same time, they say water from the tap is safe to drink. I'm sure it is, but I'm just wondering, if limescale can bring major appliances to a literal grinding halt, what effect does it have on my skin, my teeth, my stomach or - gasp - my hair?

(actually, I can tell you right now from personal experience: shampoos from the Philippines don't lather in London; and I've been told that the shower water supposedly causes falling hair, which is just as well, because some places here charge £30 for a haircut)

Loo Fung Supermarket will cure your homesickness real good.

Longganisa, Chippy and Datu Puti, oh my! Longganisa, Chippy and Datu Puti, oh my!

Cocktail party where you don't know anyone there -- This is what we trained for, people!

I attend my first social/networking event at a trendy-looking bar called "Hush". (so named, I assume, because it's hidden from the main street as well as anything in La Pigna.) I only recognize a few other people from work, and even then we've always been taught not to "clump". Fortunately, bringing up Manny Pacquiao seems to be as good an icebreaker here as anywhere else.

Speaking of that other Manny . . .

There was some coverage of the Pacquiao-Hatton fight, but it was still buried beneath all the Champions League stories. I was hoping a nearby pub would show the fight, but none seemed to carry it. We did get an invitation to a viewing party, but were advised against attending because it was too far, it'd be too early in the morning, and too many beers would have been served by then (we later heard that fights broke out at the place). Fortunately, Manny took care of bidness in quick, suitable-for-youtube fashion, and that was that. The British media and public, in turn, seemed generally forgiving of Hatton. In fact, the presence of his fiance and a boatload of other bikinied admirers around him right after the fight suggests maybe we should all be as lucky as Ricky and be on the receiving end of a Pacquiao left.

Nah.

The scourge of every big city, I suppose

I still feel safe in London, but not since Geneva have I heard so many locals bring up personal accounts of crime. And the nicknames given to some of the criminals - "Hammer Gang", "Hugger Muggers" - would easily translate back home.

Britain, you should be feeling an uptick in your economy soon; the LLDD-Hyphen-L says "You're welcome"

Yes, London can be expensive, so the LLDD-Hyphen-L beseeches y'all to remember these names: Tesco, Primark, Asda and, above all, Argo's and its telephone directory-sized catalogue. Makes for great values. And nighttime reading.

I can say "D'oh!" with an accent now.

They tax a lot of things here that we don't back home (like TVs!), so when the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I first went to a supermarket and saw that we had to use £1 just to unchain a shopping cart, I decided enough was enough and staged a mini self-protest. Against the LLDD-Hyphen-L's better judgment, we passed on using the carts and picked up a couple of free shopping baskets instead. The veins on our biceps burst like Wolverine's as we loaded a week's worth of groceries into the baskets and lugged them all around -- it was the principle of not having to pay for use of a shoopping cart, dammit! Then, as we were about to finish, we run into a collegue at the embassy, who sees us and asks "Why aren't you using a cart? You get the £1 back when you return it."

I avoid eye contact with the LLDD-Hyphen-L for the rest of the evening.

Honestly, I thought there'd be less to lamppost maintenance than this

Maybe it's because I've seen the MMDArtists in action, but I didn't think those iconic London lampposts were each touched-up this meticulously. Or that the painters would have groupies.

And finally, I know it's their language, grammar and syntax and everything, but some things can still get lost in translation, so to speak.

Then again, I'm the one who thinks those "Walang Tawiran Nakamamatay" signs need comas after "Tawiran", or else people would think "No Crossing Can Kill" and then get run over, so what do I know?

PARLIAMENT IS NOT UNATTRACTIVE

Whoa.

After seeing Parliament up close over the weekend, I still can't get over the building's beautiful color and regal design. Utterly breathtaking.

And, oh, those exterior details! So intricate, elaborate and, yes, mesmerizing.

Man, whoever had to build the replica for "V for Vendetta" must have had a nakakaduling of a time making it. And then cried when they blew it up.

IT'S THE NEXT SIX YEARS, I MUST BE IN . . . LONDON!

Mabuhay, I say!

Yes, the LLDD is finally at post in beautiful, sunny . . . (check that) . . . dreary and drizzly . . . (hold on) . . . cold and windy . . . (oh, come on!) . . . back to beautiful, sunny London!

(Wow. They weren't kidding about that whole "Four Seasons in a Day" thing.)

It's been a hectic, unsettled couple of days here in Brittania. Fortunately, everyone at the Embassy - and, yes, all of the locals - have been so nice and helpful that our uprooting and transfer has gone as pleasantly as possible. Once again, the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I have been blessed with the greatest of circumstances, and nothing it seems could possibly ruin our arriva . . .

Bloody hell.

FIRST SATURDAY

The LLDD-Hyphen-L was, of course, pumped for the trip. She showed no signs of jet-lag after the 16-hour flight . . .



. . . quickly surveying upon our arrival our new surroundings from the window of our temporary flat in Chelsea . . .

. . . and immediately zeroing in on the essentials.

Secure in the knowledge the nearest Zara is just a five-minute walk away, the LLDD-Hyphen-L settles back at the flat, discovers "Britain's Got Talent".

Hello to you too, London!

FIRST SUNDAY

Ye Olde Church Search

Ah, yes, the challenge for every Filipino travelling on a weekend: finding a place of worship. The LLDD-Hyphen-L and I were told there was a Catholic church in a nearby place called Brompton. Using my excellent map-reading skills (developed over hours of "Warcraft"), I spotted two possible sites. The first was a chapel at the far end of a cemetery where, despite the presence of ancient crypts and coffins, the LLDD-Hyphen-L was more freaked out by the squirrels. The chapel was closed (just as well, because the squirrels seemed to be eyeballing us), so we headed around the town towards the second possible location, one with a high bell tower visible from afar. After a long walk, we were relieved to arrive at the church . . .

. . . and find out it isn't Catholic. (very pretty, though.)

We decide to head into the city and take our chances there. The LLDD-Hyphen-L had had enough of my navigation incompetence (and the trailing squirrels).

Oh. Hey. The Place Where I'll Be Working for the Next Six Years. Or Less.

Again, because of my precision planning, our first trip into the inner city coincided with a little something called the London Marathon, complete with the screaming throngs, road detours and tube station closures. What was supposed to be a simple commute turned into a clueless, circuitous journey around and under London. The silver lining: we stumbled upon...The Embassy! My new place of work! So this is what it feels like to be on the "Amazing Race" and actually find the pit stop without being the last team to arrive!

(only Phil Keoghn isn't there to receive you because it's, you know, a Sunday, and places be closed)

First Time for Everything

Ok, we now know (by accident) where my home base will be. Now, where's everything else? With the marathon ongoing, the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I have little choice but to go with the flow of the crowd and see where that takes us. This actually turns out to be a good thing as we get our first views of many of the great London scenes and landmarks. Among our many firsts:

First glimpse of Big Ben (initial impression: jaw-droppingly beautiful; and quote Sabretooth to Wolverine, "ooh, shiny!" [seriously, I did not know Big Ben had that much gold trimming])

First glimpse of "The Eye" (initial impression: for something so big, it jumps out of nowhere; kinda like Cloverfield)

First glimpse of Downing Street (initial impression: are tourists supposed to be able to get that close?)


First Picture of the LLDD-Hyphen-L with a Horse (initial impression: she can stand next to a huge horse, but is freaked out by squirrels?)

First Picture-Picture to be Ruined by Someone Walking Through our Shot (initial impression: Itsura mo!)

First...ahem...Unobstructed View of Parliament (initial impression: apparently, the front of Parliament is the place to hold rallies and demonstrations; unsolicited advice: don't hold your rallies and demonstrations on the same day and venue as the London marathon -- the rallyists went largely unnoticed among the thousands of race spectators, while the runners were left wondering why some people were cheering them on with "U.N., U.N., take action now!" chants. Really, it was just confusing for everyone.

First view of Westminster Abbey (initial impression: very nice, not unlike the front of San Sebastian; and isn't there also a Westminster Cathedral?; the LLDD-Hyphen and I might actually be close to finding ourselves a church)

First Picture of a Guy Dressed as a Toilet (initial impression: a guy. is dressed. like a toilet)

Pssst! Still Looking for a Church?

Continuing down the closed off roads, we stumble upon Westminster Cathedral. Why, this will do nicely!

It even has a very high viewtower with - and this is important in old British buildings - an elevator! (oh, excuse me, lift)

In case my video voice-over wasn't clear, we were looking out of the east side of the view tower, where we got our first far-off glimpses of: A) Buckingham Palace (initial impression: can't . . .get . . . clear . . . view . . . must . . . not . . . stretch . . . too . . . far . . . fall . . . off . . . viewtower);

and B) "The Gherkin" (initial impression: seems to stand out in the city as a worthy foe for "The Eye", like Mothra was to Godzilla; my money's on "Gherkin") . . .

I'LL CALL IT AN APARTMENT IF I WANT TO, DAMMIT

Newly posted foreign service personnel have just a few days to find a more permanent place to live before being kicked out of their hotel, so most of the week following our arrival was spent shuttling between work and viewing assorted flats to let (called "apartments for rent" in the U.S., or "wanted bedspacer" in Libertad).

After a week of cris-crossing the city, looking at all sorts of flats, lusting at the can't-afford places and grovelling for the can-afford ones, bidding, being out-bid, and then bidding some more, the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I finally ended up getting . . . the very first flat we saw. It's a modest-sized space, but in a great neighborhood (that I like to call "Cheese Whiz") and with a pretty view of a park and an old church.

(OK, fine, the buses stop right outside our window, but once the light turns green and they move on, there's a view, I tell you)

And one of the great selling points of the flat: it came furnished with sofas, a TV and - most joyously - hanging capiz shell lamps that I'm 99% certain came from the Philippines!

Finally, moving in day is efficiently executed, with me on my moblie taking care of the plans. . .

. . . and the LLDD-Hyphen-L carrying it out.

Welcome to London!