quakers

london 7.44pm 18.7C sunny high 23C saturday 2018

we are having a sunny warm bank holiday weekend. from what i see, a lot are travelling. i was meeting up with my friend who lives in … oh dear the name just slips my mind justnow. our meeting place was victoria train station. anyway we were going to meet up with my friend who had come down from bournemouth to attend the quaker annual meeting at their headquarters near euston station. it is a huge building on  prime land.

my friend had been very keen on the quakers and had joined in their activities very actively. we are just going to see him, and attended one talk , about hinduism, before we had lunch. the canteen in the building was closed by the time the talk ended at 1.30pm so we had to go out to eat.

my friend wanted to give us a treat and he suggested going to an indian… it was one of many indian restaurants along this street just beside the euston station. i have heard of it, like a little india hidden in this small corner… we entered a all -you- can- eat for £7 restaurant. the waiters were very efficient, greeting us as soon as we entered and even though we thought there was a queue, they immediately ushered us to a table, so that we were not put off to eat there. we could see the dishes from outside through the big glass window, and that was quite a good advertising, as we can see what we get. there was another restaurant also all you can eat for the same price, but the dishes all have covers in them, with their backs to the window so we could not see what they are offering… and that seems to deter us. it is funny sometimes, when i think of it, to wonder what makes people go to one restaurant over another. it was certainly very busy that restaurant we were in, but it was a large place, even though it does not look it from outside. it has an upstairs section too. but it coped very well with that huge influx of eaters at that hour. and that was very good organising from them, because when we finished the crowd had gone… tables were empty and the waiters were less busy now… they were very efficient in removing the old plates too. and from what i see when my friend paid , they dont include the service charge, leaving it up to customers to pay it… whcih is rather a good strategy, as they are so efficient, and helpful… even agreeing to take a group photo of us with our camera…we were acting like tourists , my friends i mean. perhaps they are tourists that time haha. after all they both came into london from other parts of england. oh, i remember where my friend came, from stroud slough. i had to bring up a railway map to find out where he lives.  i thought he would be familiar with london, seeing it is not far from london, and he comes often. he can get a bus which is included in his freedom pass, so it is free. takes 2hrs the bus journey to london. it seems. i have never been to stroud  slough, even though he asks me to visit him. it is near southall, (or rather, they are both around  west of london. and i have never been there even though i hear so much about it being like india. 

my friend seems to like the food, but i find it quite ordinary… it was very filling of course, though we only have one helping. or rather it was so filling we only had one helping. and then went again just for the dessert, which was fresh fruits and some indian sweets. coconut candy and jelly. it might be agar jelly. it was his treat, which is rather nice of him to give us a treat. it made me so full that when my other friend and i took the bus down to chinatown, where he wanted to go, i did not get off with him . i had wanted  to get the free taco that world foods market was giving away free at 3pm, but i felt too full to want to eat anything. so it kind of spoilt that freebie for me, as i just did not feel like going there to get it. sigh, it is typical of life, no one giving me a treat for ages, than one comes just when i can get a free food offer from a eating place. but that is life.

it got me out and about, so i was able to see how others spend their holiday weekend. from the crowds in oxford st and regent st, i guess many are spending it shopping. or window shopping. there dont seem to be many with shopping bags, though it was about 3pm, so maybe they are only just starting.