living in london pt 18

london

 i enjoy the weather here in london, no matter whether it is winter or summer. i know lots of people like summer, and this weather we are having now is ideal. and many must feel they have to make full use of it, go out even though they would much rather have a nap instead.

Because i like whatever the weather brings, whether rain, or shine or cold , I am not fearful of losing out and not experiencing this warm weather. To me, who suffer from hayfever i would rather be indoors now. 

I think the fear of losing out (FOLO) or fear of missing out (FOMO) affects a lot of people especially if they live in a happening place like london where there are many people wanting to make a business and so they organise functions designed to entice a lot of people to the place as the more footfalls there are , the better the chance that people will buy things and the businesses there will benefit.

Take for eg yesterday, when it is the longest day. Regent st was having its london bus event, and trafalgar square was reserved for the westend live stage show, featuring many of the musicals and theatre now on in the westend. And there was some kind of remembrance of the first world war in the cenotaph memorial in whitehall which means that stretch of road is blocked and the buses hve to be diverted. it causes mayhem with the buses and many confused tourists 

All in all, it makes for a very crowded central london. i went early at about 11am to the charing cross library, as it is the only one open so early on sunday and allready there was a long queue forming  to get into trafalgar square for the westend live shows. it starts at 12pm.

I can remember it used to be at leicester square and it was not very popular then, (or it was on its 2nd year i think and so not well known)and there was no queue; i was even able to win a prize in the draw that takes place every hour,  since i got there at about 10.30am that hour has less people registering for the draw. the price was £50 worth of products from some body shop in neals yard. now you know why we oldies always say the good ol days. haha.

Nowadays everything is so popular it is always crowded so that you have to get there early and still have to queue to get in. Though having said that i dont remember queueing to get into the opera nights in june at the trafalgar square . So maybe i am wrong about that. that is the danger of generalising. i think it is a bit of luck whether some place is crowded or not. 

I go to the library to charge up my chrome book, and i found a book to borrow. ‘the city of devi’ by manil suri.

After the library, i decided to buy some stuff in chinatown. surprisingly the grocery shops there were not busy and there was no queue to pay for them.

i bought sesame oil, £1.68 for 150ml. vermicelli noodles98p and flat noodles £1.05. and frozen fish balls 200mg £1.65.(fresh cost £2.20) malaysian curry250mg £1.35.  

Simon tells me he wants to cycle to work now. so we went to the bicycle shed where i keep the 3bikes that i found and he chosed one and we brought it up to the flat and put it in the spare bedroom. it is easier for him to get it than to go to the bike shed. it is summer so cycling is a nice experience but i found out by a casual mention he made about his fitness test coming along that it is his way of getting fit instead of going to the gym. he used to walk up and down the stairs but cycling would be a far better way of getting fit i think. He finds the bike quite strenous to use, as they have thick tyres. he said he tried out the ones with thin tyres and they are so light he can carry the whole bike easily. I have a feeling he has a hankering for those light , thin tyres bike.

When i was a kid, we have bikes like that. and they have only 3gears and they are really very easy to ride, as the tyres are large.  I have often wondered why in london everyone used mountain bikes with their thick tyres and their 22 gears.

after all, we live in london, there are paved roads there is no need for mountain bikes, but i guess it is the same mentality that favours cars with 4-wheel drives in the narrow streets of london. haha