how are you? i am having the best time in london right now, she is treating me very well, no longer the tough mistress she once was. i wonder what will happen to balance out these good times. the other night i recognised i am replicating my sydney life here. i have a great job, i love my bosses, i like where i live, i have [some] disposable income, my good friends all live within walking distance, there are adventures galore to be had. we look for comfort in the familiar? even my room feels the same as it does in sydney, only much smaller.
i had an awesome week, i know you want to hear all about it.
there are little pockets of vietnamese restaurants and grocers in east london. i get kicks going to the grocers just to buy packets of instant noodles. they always have a vietnamese soap opera blaring from the tv. i am a food snob when it comes to vietnamese. i went to dinner with the boy on tuesday night and he took me to a place called song que on kingsland road. oh lord, i knew i was in for a treat as soon as we got there. first, the decor is very much as a vietnamese eatery should be. potted plants by the door [i could not tell if these were plastic or not], mostly pastel green interior, a certain percentage of the lighting is neon, paper tablecloths, waiters in white tee shirts. you get the picture. i think i came close to embarrassing him with my glee. the traditional vietnamese food [yellow pancake, vermicelli with spring rolls, rice paper rolls] was fresh and cheap. my mother is the biggest vietnamese food snob on your side of the hemisphere. i will not be afraid to take her here if she comes to visit. the place is so good, i ate there twice. actually i was very naughty this week and ate out thrice [the other place was the japanese canteen]! oh i am so living beyond my means!
at work we are in serious production mode, allocating fabrics and trims to manufacturers. aki said i had two days to get two packages ready to send, ok fine. but if i do not get them ready to send by monday morning, we will both have to come in on saturday. oh ok. well i got them ready in record time. she is one tough production manager. she has already told me off twice. i kind of dig how challenging aki is. at lunchtime she is hilarious telling us stories about her kid and husband, but outside of that, work is work. in my first week we bonded over summer heights high. gold!
our work christmas party is tomorrow night. monday night! how does anyone expect us to function the next day? we are going to sketch. some people say it is fancy, others wanky. hopefully i will not make the same mistake i made at the peopke christmas dinner at est where i drank on an empty stomach, embarrassed myself, and had to go home early. fingers crossed!
i had a great treasure finding day yesterday. i having been looking for fresh full cream ricotta for weeks. you know how you can buy it at the supermarket at the deli? you cannot do that here. i finally found it at broadway market. it cost a pretty penny but oh roast vegetable pizza and spinach and ricotta cannelloni, here i come!
the other thing i bought at the markets is a domino set. it is made of lightweight plastic. i got to the markets fairly late in the day, i cannot believe it had been sitting there all day with a £2 price tag and no one was interested. there was a jumble sale at the art gallery on my street. i got there as it was closing and everything was 50p. i bought a grey marle jumper and circular adidas bag and picked up some old vogue magazines for free. such a good day, no?
you know how i sometimes like to wear a stick-on mustache and brows? i am not sure what people think about it when i tell them. hopefully they understand it is a type of creative release. my friend found these and thought of me. lots of boys here sport a 'tache, it is very east london to do so.
in a moment of heightened pretension and silliness, i stuck on my fake facial hair and took some pictures. i do not know who i am trying to be but it is definitely some sort of man woman.
love
olivia
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